A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2025, marking the deadliest year on record, according to a new report released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

This surpasses any previous year since CPJ began documenting journalist deaths in 1992.

Shockingly, Israel was responsible for two-thirds of these deaths, making it the deadliest state actor against journalists in modern history.

The Israeli military now holds the grim record of more targeted killings of the press than any other government — with the vast majority of victims being Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza.

“Journalists are being killed in record numbers at a time when access to information is more important than ever,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Attacks on the media are a leading indicator of attacks on other freedoms, and much more needs to be done to prevent these killings and punish the perpetrators. We are all at risk when journalists are killed for reporting the news.”

Over three-quarters of all journalist deaths occurred in conflict zones. While fatalities in Ukraine and Sudan rose slightly to four and nine, respectively, these numbers are dwarfed by the scale of killings linked to Israel.

A notable trend in 2025 was the increased use of drones to target journalists, with 39 cases documented globally. Of these, 28 were carried out by Israel in Gaza, five by Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, one by a suspected Turkish strike in Iraq, and four by Russian drones in Ukraine — the highest annual toll for journalists in the Ukraine war since 2022.

CPJ warned that a persistent culture of impunity is fueling the rising death toll. Only a few of the 47 documented targeted killings (classified as murder) were investigated transparently, and no one has been held accountable.