Journalists Caught in Crossfire

Journalists are caught in crossfire. Some are killed for investigating drug trafficking and corruption, covering wars or reporting abuses by security forces. Others are jailed for criticizing governments, publishing prohibited information or rejecting official versions of events.

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Attacks on the media are an early indicator of attacks on other freedoms; we are all at risk when journalists are killed for reporting.

By the end of August, Reporters Without Borders had confirmed 22 journalists killed for reasons directly linked to their work in eight countries since January. The organization also recorded 470 journalists and media workers imprisoned in 51 countries: 434 journalists and 36 other media workers. Murder and imprisonment serve two purposes, the article says: they stop journalists from continuing their investigations and warn their colleagues.

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The integrity of journalists and freedom of expression are essential guarantees for the development of societies and peace.

The Committee to Protect Journalists documented 129 journalists and media workers killed during 2025, the highest number in its records since it began counting in 1992. Forty-seven were deliberately killed because of their work, the highest figure in a decade. No one had been convicted in any of those cases.

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In much of the world, preserving independent reporting has become a high-risk decision that can cost a person their job, exile, freedom or even life.

Jodie Ginsberg, the committee's executive director, warned that “attacks on the media are an early indicator of attacks on other freedoms; we are all at risk when journalists are killed for reporting.” UNESCO estimates that 85% of journalist killings remain unresolved. Colombian journalist Florentino Mesa, who has worked in Colombia and the United States for more than 40 years, told EL UNIVERSAL that preserving independent reporting had become a high-risk decision in much of the world, potentially costing journalists their jobs, exile, freedom or lives. He added that violence against journalists often begins before a shooting, with hidden censorship, financial pressure on media outlets and legal harassment.

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It begins much earlier, with hidden censorship, the financial suffocation of media outlets and judicial harassment.