One hundred and twenty eight journalists were killed in different parts of the world in 2025, with the Middle East accounting for more than half, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Thursday.
The grim toll up from 2024 “is not just a statistic, it’s a global red alert for our colleagues,” IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger told AFP.
The IFJ expressed particular alarm over the situation in the Palestinian territories, where it recorded 56 media professionals killed in 2025 as Israel’s war with Hamas ground on in Gaza.
Bellanger said “we’ve never seen anything like this: so many deaths in such a short time, in such a small area.”
Journalists were also killed in Yemen, Ukraine, Sudan, Peru, India and elsewhere.
Bellanger condemned what he called “impunity” for those behind the attacks. “Without justice, it allows the killers of journalists to thrive,” he warned.
Meanwhile, the IFJ said across the globe, 533 journalists were currently in prison – a figure that has more than doubled over the past half decade.
China again leads among the worst jailer of reporters with 143 behind bars, including in Hong Kong, where authorities have been criticised by Western nations for imposing national security laws quashing dissent.
The IFJ’s count for the number of journalists killed is typically far higher than that of Reporters Without Borders, due to different counting methods. This year’s IFJ toll also included nine accidental deaths.
According to the Reporters Without Borders, 67 journalists were murdered in the line of duty this year, while UNESCO puts the figure at 93.
