The new Reporters Without Borders report portrays 2025 as one of the deadliest years for those who provide information: 67 journalists killed, especially in Gaza and Mexico. A direct attack on global press freedom
The new report of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) leaves no room for comforting myths: 2025 was a year tragically lethal for those who provide information. According to the NGO, 67 media professionals were killed in the last year, and almost four out of five (at least 53) were in war contexts or at the hands of criminal networks. It is a figure that does not limit itself to measuring the victims: it indicates an increasingly disturbing and precise plan to silence those who dedicate their existence to spreading the truth.
Gaza: the bloodiest theater
The most chilling statistic in the report is clear and stark: almost half (43%) of journalists killed in the period considered occurred in the Gaza Stripand RSF blames the Israeli military for a large portion of these deaths. The attacks, including bombings on civilian facilities and “double-taps” on hospitals and humanitarian convoys, have turned neighborhoods into death traps even for those documenting the tragedy. For RSF, the frequency and modality of these events make the conflict in Gaza the most dangerous operational theater for journalists in 2025.
Mexico: the war without uniforms
If the ongoing genocide in Gaza claims all sorts of victims, in Mexico the enemy is less recognizable but equally lethal: organized crime groups and cartels they have made local journalism a systematic target. RSF reports that Mexico has become the second most dangerous country for journalists in 2025, with at least nine reporters killed over the course of the year. Here the dissuasion strategy is surgical: targeted killings, disappearances and intimidation, everything necessary to make the right to information the main risk to daily life. News must be buried under an unshakable blanket of fear.
Ukraine and Sudan: between regular armies and paramilitary chaos
We cannot return unscathed even from traditional theaters of war. In Ukraine, the clashes between the armed forces of Kiev and those of Moscow continue to be intense and without quarter. Journalists, foreign and local, have too often found themselves having to find refuge to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. In this scenario, on several occasions, reporters were deliberately targeted, making the exercise of their profession extremely dangerous. Likewise, the Sudanese conflict between regular forces and paramilitary militias has made the country “exceptionally lethal”: complex scenarios of urban warfare and indiscriminate attacks have caused victims among journalists and made independent coverage very difficult.
A phenomenon that changes face: from foreign reporters to “home” journalists
A tragic trend highlighted by RSF: most of the victims were journalists working in their own country. Only two foreigners were among the dead in the period examined. This overturns the romantic narrative of the corresponding “hero” and shows how repression, violence and the rampage of crime primarily affect those who stay to tell stories close to home, often with fewer protections and less international visibility.
Why it happens and why it’s worse than ever
Reporters Without Borders points the finger at different causes that have now become systemic:
- armies and paramilitary forces that do not respect the combatant/civilian distinction, in defiance of any rule of international law;
- structural impunity: very few investigations and consequently a small number of trials, most of which end in nothing;
- a rampant expansion of the power of criminal cartels, which increasingly replace the State where it ceases to operate efficiently;
- defamatory campaigns, surveillance and digital attacks that undermine the safety of newspapers and journalists, reducing professional protection networks.
In many cases, the killing of a colleague is not a single isolated episode, but the visible tip of an organized action with the clear aim of nipping inconvenient investigations in the bud or paralyzing native journalism.
What RSF and press freedom organizations are asking for
The report is not just a “victim counter”: it is an appeal to institutions and governments. RSF calls for independent investigations, material protections and more effective international mechanisms for those working in risk areas; it especially requires that warring states be held accountable for the damage caused to journalists and that the international community puts pressure on governments and militias to respect humanitarian law. Without concrete measures (protections, accountability, and global judicial cooperation) the death toll will only get worse.
It’s not just another statistic
The figures for 2025 tell an uncomfortable truth: where violence grows, the collective possibility of knowing also dies. Killing a journalist is not just taking a life; it means canceling witnesses, blocking investigations, bending society towards opacity. If we want the truth to continue to circulate, in the streets of Gaza as in Mexican villages, we need more than words: We need protection, justice and the political will to make the safety of journalists a priority. RSF has done its count. It’s up to the world to respond.
