Reporters Without Borders: 2025 Marks Another Deadly Year for Journalists with 67 Lives Lost

The Washington Post

Journalists killed in Gaza.

The number of journalists killed between 1 December 2024 and 1 December 2025 has increased, driven by “the criminal practices of armed forces, both regular and irregular, as well as organised crime groups,” according to the 2025 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) assessment released on Tuesday, 9 December 2025.

The press freedom organisation reported that 67 journalists were killed worldwide while carrying out their duties or because of their profession, with nearly half of these deaths occurring in the Gaza Strip.

Just six days after an Algerian appeals court upheld a seven-year prison sentence for French journalist Christophe Gleizes on charges of “glorifying terrorism”, RSF drew attention to the plight of 503 journalists currently imprisoned in 47 countries — including 121 in China, 48 in Russia, and 47 in Myanmar. The organisation also recorded 135 journalists listed as missing, some for more than three decades, and 20 journalists abducted, mainly in Syria and Yemen.

In 2023, RSF documented 49 journalist deaths — one of the lowest totals in the past two decades. However, the Israel–Gaza war pushed the number to 66 in 2024 (according to updated figures) and 67 in 2025.

“This is the result of hatred towards journalists; it is the result of impunity,” said the organisation’s editor-in-chief, Anne Bocandé.

She added, “The real challenge now is for governments to return their focus to protecting journalists rather than allowing them to become targets.”


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