Over 70% of the journalists who were killed around the world in 2023 were Palestinian reporters who died in Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to a new report released Thursday.
Out of the 99 journalist and media worker killings identified by the Committee to Protect Journalists last year, 77 were killed in the Israel-Hamas war. The vast majority of them — 72 — were Palestinian reporters killed in Israeli strikes, in addition to three Lebanese and two Israeli journalists, according to the annual report from the Committe to Protect Journalists.
“It’s unprecedented,” CPJ Chief Executive Officer Jodie Ginsberg told VOA. “We are entirely reliant on Palestinian journalists, who are not only reporting the war but living the war, to bring us the news and information from Gaza.”
Journalist killings in the Israel-Hamas war have continued into 2024. As of February 14, an additional 11 Palestinian journalists have been killed in the war this year, according to CPJ.
Last year saw the highest number of journalists killed around the world since 2015. Journalist killings in 2023 marked a nearly 44% increase from 2022 and included at least 78 killings that CPJ determined were work-related.
“Journalists are killed for a reason. And that’s because the work that we do matters,” Ginsberg said.
A major part of the problem is impunity. CPJ research shows that of the nearly 1,000 journalist killings documented by the press freedom group since 1992, nearly 80% have gone entirely unprosecuted.
“There’s a clear link between a failure to hold journalist killers accountable and an environment in which journalist killings continue,” Ginsberg said.
The perpetrators of one of last year’s most egregious journalist killings — Martinez Zogo in Cameroon — continue to enjoy impunity. Zogo’s body was found naked and severely mutilated on the outskirts of the capital, Yaounde, in January 2023, CPJ said.
The brutal killing prompted some reporters in the country to flee into exile for safety, according to Ginsberg.
“So, the killing of a journalist doesn’t just impact that journalist. It also has a ripple effect,” she said.
Israel is also part of the impunity problem, according to Ginsberg. Israeli soldiers have killed at least 20 journalists — including 18 Palestinians — over the past 22 years, according to a May 2023 CPJ report. No one has been held accountable for those killings.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.
Despite the shocking number of journalists killed in Gaza, journalist killings declined in other parts of the world, with a total of 22 killed in 18 countries last year. By comparison, CPJ documented 69 journalists killed around the world in 2022.
In Mexico, a record 13 journalists were killed in 2022, but two were killed in 2023. Likewise in Ukraine, 13 were killed in 2022 compared to two in 2023.
Still, Ginsberg is quick to add that press freedom is still under threat globally.
“Though killings may have dropped elsewhere, journalist safety has most certainly not improved,” she said, citing high levels of journalist jailings, as well as online harassment and physical assaults against reporters.
