The United Nations cultural organization UNESCO reported that global impunity for journalist killings has risen for the first time in more than a decade, with six in seven such murders going unpunished.
The share of killings that went unpunished reached 86 percent in 2024-2025, up one percent from the previous two-year period, according to UNESCO. The agency first began measuring that rate in 2012.
| Region | Verified cases |
|---|---|
| Arab States | 97 |
| Latin American and the Caribbean | 37 |
| Asia-Pacific | 34 |
| Central and Eastern Europe | 14 |
| Africa | 6 |
| Western Europe and North America | 1 |
A confirmed total of 189 journalists and other media workers lost their lives in 2024-2025, 20 percent more than in the previous two years and the highest number since 2014-2015. More than two thirds, 127, were killed in conflict zones, accounting for 67 percent of the deaths.
“Journalists are increasingly paying with their lives for reporting from the frontlines of war and far too often those responsible for their killings are not held accountable,” said Director-General Khaled El-Enany.
The findings appear in the Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity. UNESCO publishes the report every two years to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed on Nov. 2.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said at least 34 journalists were killed over the past year. “Six of every seven such killings go unpunished,” he said. In conflict settings, he said, the rate of impunity is close to 100 percent.
Killings were recorded across all regions during the 2024-2025 period, the report said. The Arab States had the highest number of verified cases, at 97. The State of Palestine had the highest number of killings in both years, at 30 and 32.
The report also identified a new threat from the growing use of drones to kill journalists. Drone strikes killed 50 journalists in 2024-2025, or 40 percent of all those killed in conflict zones. UNESCO documented seven incidents in which several journalists were targeted and killed in a single attack, including strikes on media workplaces and temporary reporting centers.
The report said 15 journalists were killed while wearing press vests or in vehicles clearly marked as press. El-Enany repeated his call for respect of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2222, adopted unanimously in 2015, which treats journalists, media professionals and associated personnel as civilians in conflict. He said that status was reaffirmed in the Pact for the Future.
The report also noted progress outside war zones. Impunity in non-conflict countries has fallen from 94 percent in 2012 to 77 percent in 2026, or one percentage point per year. The number of journalist killings in non-conflict zones, 85, is the lowest in 18 years.
UNESCO said the decline shows that progress is possible when governments invest in investigations, prosecutions and protections for journalists.
Women journalists continue to face particular risks in war zones and online, the agency said. Of the 14 women killed in 2024-2035, 13 were in countries experiencing armed conflict. A 2025 study by U.N. Women and the International Center for Journalists found that 75 percent of women journalists had experienced online or offline abuse and harassment.
More than 40 percent reported offline violence linked to online attacks, up from 20 percent in a 2020 UNESCO survey. Guterres said the killings are an affront to the victims, their loved ones, and people who depend on journalists to remain informed, and he called for justice.
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