Dozens of journalists lost their lives this year in the line of duty or just because of what their job means, said Reporters San Frontieres in a relevant report released today, detailing a series of deaths, injuries and imprisonments across war zones, authoritarian regimes and oppressive leaders.
It was yet another tragic outcome over the past twelve months, with 67 journalists being killed, half during the war in Gaza, where they 'came under Israeli armed forces fire', AFP reported the NGO as saying in its comprehensive document.
'The number of journalists that lost their lives from December 1st 2024 through to December 1st 2025 rose again, due to criminal practices of armed forces, tactical or not and organised crime', RSF said, mournfully commenting that:-
'Journalists don't just die, they get killed.'
As the report accounts, almost a week following the conviction of French report Christophe Glez, who is set to serve seven years in Algeria for being a 'terror apologist,', RSF refers to 503 reporters currently in prison across 47 countries, including 121 in China, 48 in Russia and 47 in Myanmar.
135 are reported missing, some for over three decades, while at least 20 are being held hostage, most in Syria and Yemen.
49 journalist killings were reported in 2023, one of the lowest numbers in twenty years, the war in Gaza however brought that number up, both last year and currently.
'Here's where the hatred for journalists and impunity leads,', Ann Bokande, an RSF official told AFP, adding that what's really at stake is the need for government to invest in protecting journalists, not turning them into targets.
At least 29 members of the press were killed in Gaza this year, a total of 220 since October 2023, including a significant number who were not actually working at the time.
The Israeli army has been repeatedly accused of targeting reporters and charged with war crimes to that effect, with Tel Aviv responding that it has always been striking at Hamas.
Bokande claimed that journalists were being discredited so 'that crimes against them can be justified'.
Reporters are also being killed by organised crime, with 9 murdered in Mexico over the past three years, during 'professional hits'. They were mostly individuals who wrote against mafia bosses and their relations with politicians.
SOURCE-AFP