2025, a deadly year for journalists: this is where hate and impunity lead Journalists do not just die – they are killed.
The number of murdered journalists has risen again, due to the criminal practices of military groups — both regular and paramilitary — and organised crime. At least 53 of the 67 media professionals killed over the past year are victims of war or criminal networks.
Nearly half (43%) of the journalists slain in the past 12 months were killed in Gaza by Israeli armed forces. In Ukraine, the Russian army continues to target foreign and Ukrainian reporters. Sudan has also emerged as an exceptionally deadly war zone for news professionals.
In Mexico, organised crime groups are responsible for the alarming spike in journalist murders seen in 2025. This year has been the deadliest of the past three years — at least — and Mexico is the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists, with nine killed. The trend has spread as Latin America has become more “Mexicanised,” accounting for 24% of the world’s murdered journalists. Journalists are more at risk within their own countries. Only two foreign journalists were killed this year: French photojournalist Antoni Lallican, killed by a Russian drone strike in Ukraine, and Salvadorian journalist Javier Hércules, killed in Honduras, where he had lived for over a decade. All the other murdered journalists reported the news in their own nations.
503 journalists are currently detained around the world. The world’s largest prison for journalists is still China (121), with Russia (48) now in second place, imprisoning more foreign journalists than any other state: 26 Ukrainians. Myanmar (47) comes in third.
One year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, many of the reporters arrested or captured under his rule are yet to be found, making Syria the country with the highest number of missing news professionals — over a quarter of the world total.
“This is where the hatred of journalists leads! It led to the death of 67 journalists this year – not by accident, and they weren’t collateral victims. They were killed, targeted for their work. It is perfectly legitimate to criticise the media — criticism should serve as a catalyst for change that ensures the survival of the free press, a public good. But it must never descend into hatred of journalists, which is largely born out of — or deliberately stoked by — the tactics of armed forces and criminal organisations. This is where impunity for these crimes leads us: the failure of international organisations that are no longer able to ensure journalists’ right to protection in armed conflicts is the consequence of a global decline in the courage of governments, which should be implementing protective public policies. Key itnesses to history, journalists have gradually become collateral victims, inconvenient eyewitnesses, barganing chips, pawns in diplomatic games, men and women to be ‘eliminated.’ We must be wary of false notions about reporters: no one gives their lives for journalism — it is taken from them; journalists do not just die — they are killed.”
Thibaut Bruttin, RSF Director General
Link : https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26543863/
Since the last RSF round-up, published on 1 December 2024, 67 journalists have been killed because of their work. At least 79% of them were victims of armed forces or paramilitary groups (37 journalists) and criminal networks (16 journalists).
● The Israeli army is responsible for over 43 % — nearly half — of crimes committed against journalists over the past twelve months. In total, since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 220 journalists, at least 65 of whom were slain either due to their work or while they were working.
● Although a year has passed since Claudia Sheinbaum became president — and despite the commitments she made to RSF — 2025 was the deadliest of the past three years for news professionals in Mexico, and the country is the second most dangerous in the world for journalists, with nine killed this year.
● In Sudan, journalists face serious abuse as conflict continues to rage. Four were killed while working this year, at least two of whom died after being abducted by the Rapid Support Forces.
● Only two of the slain journalists were foreign reporters who died outside their own country: the French photojournalist Antoni Lallican, killed by a Russian drone strike in Ukraine, and the Salvadoran journalist Javier Hércules, killed in Honduras, where he had been living for more than ten years. All the others were murdered while reporting in their own country.
Link : https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26543873/
503 journalists detained worldwide
As of 1 December 2025, 503 journalists were detained in 47 countries across the globe. The world’s largest prison for journalists is still China (121), now followed by Russia (48) and then Myanmar (47). Led by Vladimir Putin, Russia imprisons more foreign journalists than any other state (26), followed by Israel (20).
Link : https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26543868/
● As of 1 December 2025, 113 media professionals were detained under Xi Jinping’s regime, and eight more were imprisoned in Hong Kong. The People’s Republic of China remains the world’s largest prison for journalists, jailing more than Russia and Myanmar combined.
● The situation in countries such as Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus illustrates the serious threats facing press freedom across the former Soviet bloc. In Georgia, the government’s relentless authoritarian tactics led to the January arrest of Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli. In Azerbaijan, 25 journalists are currently behind bars. Russia now occupies the second place on the grim podium of the world’s largest prisons for journalists, with 48 news professionals behind bars as of 1 December 2025, 26 of whom are Ukrainian.
● After Russia, Israel is the second country to imprison the largest number of foreign journalists. As of 1 December 2025, 20 Palestinian journalists are behind Israeli bars, 16 of whom were arrested over the past two years in Gaza and the West Bank.
Link : https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26543870/
72% of missing journalists disappeared in the Middle East and Latin America
Currently, 135 journalists are missing in 37 countries. Some have been missing for more than 30 years. Although news professionals go missing all over the globe, the trend spikes sharply in Mexico (28) and Syria (37).
Link : https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26543866/
● 37 journalists are currently missing in Syria. Many were held hostage by ISIS or imprisoned by Bashar al-Assad, but the downfall of these two regimes has not yet led to the recovery of these journalists.
● 72% of journalists currently missing disappeared in countries in the Middle East or Latin America, mainly Syria, Iraq and Mexico.
Twenty journalists held hostage worldwide Twenty journalists are currently held hostage worldwide. The Houthi rebels kidnapped seven news professionals in 2025, making Yemen the country with the highest number of journalists victim to this type of kidnapping over the last twelve months. In Syria, many journalists captured before the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 are still missing.
Link : https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26543864/
● Yemen became the epicentre of journalist hostage-taking in 2025, with seven media professionals abducted this year. In Syria, elements of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rose to power after Assad’s dictatorship fell, but the group continues to hold several journalists hostage — and they must be released.
● In Mali, it has now been two years since Saleck Ag Jiddou, journalist and director of Radio Coton d’Ansongo, and Moustapha Koné, a presenter at the same community radio station, were abducted by members of an unidentified armed group on 7 November 2023 while travelling to Gao, a city in the north of the country, with two colleagues.
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