Journalist deaths worldwide rose 20pc in 2024-2025, says Unesco

In a new report released on Monday, Unesco revealed that the number of journalists killed worldwide increased by 20 percent between 2024 and 2025, reaching a total of 189 fatalities. The majority of these journalists were killed in armed conflicts, including drone strikes. According to the report, 2025 saw a higher number of journalists killed than any other single year in the past eight years.

The report highlights that most of the fatalities occurred in Arab states and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 97 and 37 journalists killed, respectively. Palestine recorded the highest number of journalist deaths during this period, with at least 62 media workers losing their lives. Additionally, 12 journalists were killed in Ukraine and two in the Russian Federation.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the report, stating that the names of many Russian journalists killed by militants of the Kyiv regime were omitted. The report found that in the 2024-2025 biennium, Unesco recorded 127 killings of journalists in conflict zones, accounting for 67 percent of the total number of killings. Furthermore, 40 percent of these deaths were caused by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

At least 50 journalists were killed across six countries as a result of drone strikes in 2024-2025, according to Unesco's findings.