Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released its annual round-up on violence against journalists, revealing a decline in the number of journalist killings globally in 2023, but
New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found at least 68 journalists and media workers were among the more than 19,000 killed since the war began on October 7—with more than 18,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.
According to the RSF report published with less than two weeks remaining in 2023, 45 journalists have lost their lives in the line of duty, marking the lowest figure since 2002.
CPJ is reporting that 81 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide, with most of those casualty reports coming out of the violence provoked by Hamas on October 7.
Differences in classification may account for some of the variation but it is unclear why such divergent calculations occurred.
As of December 19, 2023, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 61 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese journalists and media workers were killed in Gaza, the West Bank, or Israel.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that their workers would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, Reuters reported on October 27.
Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and extensive power outages.
That does not exclude the potential for violence to claim the lives of news media workers in more civilized areas.
Broadcast news reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, was fatally shot on February 22, 2023, in Pine Hills, Florida, near Orlando, while covering another fatal shooting that occurred that morning, according to his employer, Spectrum News 13, news reports, and the Orange County sheriff’s office.
A 9-year-old girl, T’yonna Major, was also killed in a shooting that occurred nearby; her mother and Jesse Walden, a Spectrum News 13 photojournalist, were injured. A 38-year-old woman, Natacha Augustin, was killed during a shooting earlier that morning.
Latin America saw a substantial drop in journalist killings, from 26 in 2022 to six in 2023. However, the region still faces challenges, evident in recent abductions and armed attacks in Mexico. The heightened violence in Latin America in 2022 resulted in self-censorship, creating information gaps on topics like organized crime and corruption.
The RSF report points out that war zones proved deadly for reporters in 2023, the first time in five years that more journalists were killed in war zones than in peaceful areas.
As of December 1, 2023, RSF said 521 journalists were detained worldwide on arbitrary grounds related to their profession, marking an 8.4% decrease from 2022. By contrast, CPJ says 363 journalists were imprisoned at midnight on December 1.
China remains the largest jailer of journalists, with 121 detained, constituting nearly a quarter of the global total according to RSF, while CPJ calls that number 43. Belarus, under Alexander Lukashenko’s increasingly repressive policies, has joined China and Myanmar as one of the three countries detaining the most journalists.
Despite the overall decline in detained journalists globally, RSF emphasizes the persistent challenges faced by reporters, including the risk of abduction.
Currently, at least 54 journalists are being held hostage globally, with Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Mexico being the primary locations.
The report also highlights cases of missing journalists, with Mexico accounting for 31 out of a total of 84 worldwide. More than half of the missing journalists globally are in Latin America, underscoring ongoing concerns for journalists’ safety in the region.
RSF’s annual round-up serves as a crucial overview of the challenges faced by journalists globally, emphasizing the need for continued efforts to protect press freedom and ensure the safety of media professionals.