A record number of journalists were killed in conflict zones in 2024. According to International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), 122 journalists were killed globally, with three verified cases in India. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also reported that nearly 30 per cent of these deaths occurred in the Gaza Strip, making Palestine as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists.
According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index published by RSF, journalism is under “significant political pressure worldwide”. The Index, which evaluates the level of press freedom in 180 countries and territories, has flagged the increasing challenges journalists face, particularly in conflict-zones and under authoritarian regimes as a key indicator for Press Freedom.
Journalism in conflict zones has always been dangerous. The murder of South Asia Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl in 2002 was an incident that shook the world. Pearl was abducted and murdered in Pakistan in early 2002. His killers released a video of his beheading that shocked the world. The incident highlighted the growing risks for journalists reporting in conflict zones and politically unstable areas.
As of December 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 152 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Palestine since Israel’s war on Gaza escalated in October 2023, 80 in the last year alone. Many were deliberately targeted while reporting on the ground, says CPJ.
On 15 December 2023, an Israeli missile hit Wael Dahdouh, a senior journalist with Al Jazeera and his camera-man Samer Abu Daqqa who were covering the Haifa School airstrike in Khan Yunis. Dahdouh had lost his wife and children in in an Israeli airstrike in October 2023.
Last year, on January 4, Hamza al Dahdouh, a 27-year-old Palestinian journalist and camera operator for Al-Jazeera and Mustafa Thuraya, a Palestinian freelance videographer who had worked with Al-Jazeera, Agence France Presse (AFP) were killed in an airstrike on their car in southern Gaza. They were travelling on assignment.
The possible loss of life has been a clear and present danger for those working in conflict zones, especially in the Middle-East. The National Union Of Journalists (NUJ) has said that Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian reporters accounted for over half of all journalists killed in 2024—58 per cent in all.
On October 13, 2023, in Lebanon, an Israeli tank fired two 120 mm rounds at a team of Reuters reporters, injuring them and killing 37-year-old Issam Abdallah. A UN investigation found the attack on “clearly identifiable journalists” in violation of international law.
In 2021, Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed in Afghanistan. The 41-year-old, who was chief photographer for Reuters news agency in India, was on assignment embedded with a convoy of Afghan forces that was ambushed by Taliban militants near a key border post with Pakistan, according to reports. At the time, Afghanistan’s ambassador to India, Farid Mamundzay, said he was deeply disturbed by the news of “the killing of a friend”.
Russia-Ukraine War Toll
The Russia-Ukraine war has also claimed the lives of dozens of journalists. Journalist and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, only 24, and veteran war-reporter Pierre Zakrzewski were both killed while reporting for Fox News when their car was hit by incoming fire in Horenka village, near Kyiv on March 14, 2022. A third member of their team, Benjamin Hall, was injured. The same month, Oleksandra Kuvshynova and Pierre Zakrzewski, both killed in a Russian attack near Kyiv in March 2022.
Brent Renaud, a Peabody and DuPont Award winning filmmaker and journalist, was fatally shot at a checkpoint in Irpin while covering the Ukraine war’s devastating effects on civilians.
In August 2024, 38-year-old Ryan Evans, Reuters’ war correspondent and safety advisor, was killed in a missile strike on a hotel in Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine.
Sudan
In Sudan, journalists were targeted and killed amid the chaos. Samaher Abdelshafee was killed by shelling at Hasaheisa refugee camp near Zalingei, where she and her family had taken refuge from fighting in the city. Photographer Esam Marajan was shot dead inside his home in the first week of August 2023.
As of August 2023, the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS) reported that 13 newspapers had stopped printing due to the conflict, while FM radio stations and channels also halted broadcasts.
The Indian Picture
Official reports say four journalists were killed in India in 2024, one more than the number reportedly killed in 2023. All of them were from Central India. In May, Ashutosh Srivastava was found killed in Uttar Pradesh (UP); Srivastava had reportedly told the police that he feared for his safety about a month before he was shot dead on May 13; Shivshankar Jha was killed in Bihar on June 25; in September 2024, Salman Ali Khan in Madhya Pradesh and in October Dilip Saini was stabbed to death in UP.
However, local reports suggest that a local journalist in Manipur was killed in early 2024 while reporting on the ethnic violence in the State. And in September 2024, unidentified assailants opened fire at veteran journalist Yambem Laba’s Imphal West residence.
On January 1, this year, Chattisgarh-based independent reporter Mukesh Chandrakar went missing and his corpse was found three days later in a septic tank. Chandrakar was known for his investigative reporting on local corruption, specifically malpractices in road development projects. His body was found on the property of a construction contractor he had reported on. Police detained the prime accused in the case, Suresh Chandrakar—a contractor—on January 6. Three other suspects, the 33-year-old journalist’s siblings, were arrested on January 4.
Kashmiri Journalists Under Threat
Journalists in Kashmir have long faced violence and threats due to the region’s volatile political and security situation. The ongoing conflict between militants, the Indian government, and local factions has made it one of the most dangerous places for journalists to operate in South Asia.
The peril of journalists in Kashmir was highlighted in September, 1995, when a parcel bomb was mailed to an office in Srinagar’s Press Enclave. Mushtaq Ali, an Agence France-Presse and Asian News International photographer, opened a package which exploded, severing Ali’s left hand, disfiguring his face and severely injuring his right hand and abdomen. He died three days later. It is believed that the bomb was targeted at Yusuf Jameel, then a senior journalist with the BBC.
In June 2018, Shujaat Bukhari, founder and editor of Rising Kashmir was assassinated outside his Srinagar office by unidentified gunmen. While investigation has thrown up no leads, it is speculated that his killing was due to his work, which focused on militant groups and the state.
The Rising Number of Imprisoned Journalists
Beyond the physical dangers, journalists are increasingly subjected to imprisonment. As of December 1, 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) documented 320 journalists behind bars, marking the second-highest number recorded since the census began in 1992.
RSF’s 2024 Round-up further reveals that 550 journalists are currently imprisoned worldwide, a seven per cent increase from the previous year. This surge is often attributed to governments and armed groups operating with impunity, aiming to silence dissent and control the narrative.
In Cambodia, military police arrested investigative reporter Mech Dara in September 2024 after he posted on social media about a quarry operation near the revered mountain Ba Phnom. Authorities accused him of attempting to cause social unrest, a charge often used to stifle investigative journalism.
In light of the increasing risk to media professionals, RSF and other organisations are calling for the ratification of the Convention on the Safety and Independence of Journalists, aimed at establishing mechanisms to protect journalists.