Authors: Ann Snaggs, Benjamin Steeves
Graphics: Julia Sequeira
Created by Julia Sequeira, Managing Editor Online
In every issue of Convergence, we spotlight countries that currently pose or have posed threats to journalists either through injury, incarceration or death. In 2025, at press time, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reports that 109 journalists were killed with over 500 detained and more than 130 missing to date according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The RSF publishes and updates their World Press Freedom Index which ranks countries with respect to censorship and the danger posed to journalists. We have mentioned these rankings for each region we have profiled below. Rankings are out of 180.
The RSF compiles its press freedom index using a detailed questionnaire containing a magnitude of different categories pertaining to violations against journalists, news media, and the public’s access to information. It looks at the degree of impunity for individuals who commit abuses such as censorship, attacks, incarceration, as well as threats made towards journalists. In order to rank 180 nations for which sufficient data is available, completed surveys from experts, correspondents, and partner organizations are scored. The index does not represent the general calibre of each nation’s media, but rather the circumstances surrounding press freedom.
Our selection of the regions we highlighted was based on ongoing wars, conflicts, and media crackdowns that journalists have encountered over the last two years.
In 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 124 journalists were killed while reporting, the highest number killed since data collection started almost thirty years ago, exceeding the record high of 113 in 2007. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed November 2 to be the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that more than 1,700 journalists have been killed in the past 19 years. Ninety per cent of the cases remain unsolved to this day.