Full Analysis Summary
Journalist deaths in 2025
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) released its final 2025 Killed List on 31 December, reporting that 128 journalists and media workers, including 10 women, were killed during the year, a rise from the 122 deaths documented in 2024.
The IFJ says the toll includes nine accidental deaths and that the final list reflects 17 additional confirmed cases added after a preliminary list on 9 December which had listed 111 killings.
The federation frames the figures as evidence of persistent impunity and calls for urgent government action and a United Nations convention to guarantee journalists' safety and independence.
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger described the 128 deaths as 'not just a statistic, it is a global crisis.'
Coverage Differences
missed information / inability to compare
Only the IFJ source is provided, so cross-source comparisons (e.g., differences in tone, emphasis, or factual discrepancies across West Asian, Western mainstream, or other outlets) cannot be made. Within the IFJ material itself, the report emphasizes rising totals, added confirmed cases after a preliminary list, and a policy call for a UN convention. This paragraph therefore summarizes IFJ's own framing rather than contrasting it with other outlets.
Journalist deaths and detentions
The IFJ reports the Middle East and Arab World as the deadliest region for media workers in 2025, accounting for 74 of the 128 deaths (58% of the global total).
The organisation attributes the high figures largely to the war in Gaza, which includes 56 deaths in Palestine.
It also records other hotspots such as Yemen, with 13 deaths.
The report highlights a 10 August strike on a tent housing journalists near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.
It also documents an Israeli army attack on the '26 September' newspaper offices in Yemen that killed 13 media workers.
The IFJ notes major imprisonment figures in the region, citing 41 Palestinian journalists detained in Israel, 15 in Egypt and 11 in Yemen.
Coverage Differences
missed information / inability to compare
With only the IFJ available, we cannot contrast regional emphasis or framing with other outlets. The IFJ places strong focus on the Middle East and the Gaza war as primary drivers of fatalities and pairs death counts with detention figures — a specific framing that may differ from other sources if they were available.
Global journalist casualties and arrests
Outside the Middle East, the IFJ documents killings and detentions across other regions.
Asia-Pacific recorded 15 deaths, including in India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal, and holds the largest number of imprisoned journalists (277).
The region's imprisonment figures are led by China (143, including Hong Kong), Myanmar (49) and Vietnam (37).
Europe saw 10 journalists killed, primarily in Ukraine, and an increase in jailed journalists to 149, with the IFJ warning about a worrying trend of journalists being struck by drones.
Africa reported nine media-worker deaths, with Sudan the deadliest hotspot.
The Americas and other countries recorded killings in Colombia, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Pakistan, among others.
Coverage Differences
narrative / emphasis
IFJ's global breakdown gives prominence to imprisonment statistics alongside deaths, and highlights trends (drone strikes in Europe). Because only IFJ is available here, we cannot compare whether other source types would prioritize different aspects (e.g., focusing on particular national incidents vs. systemic trends). The IFJ pairs casualty counts with detention figures to highlight threats to press freedom beyond killings alone.
IFJ report conclusions
The IFJ's wider conclusions stress systemic impunity and call for concrete remedies: prosecutions of attackers, government protections of media workers, and a UN-level guarantee for journalists' safety, reflecting the federation's role representing over 600,000 journalists in 146 countries.
The report also highlights the persistence of accidental deaths and the cumulative toll relative to 2024.
The IFJ frames the casualties and detention numbers in advocacy terms, arguing that international action, including the proposed UN convention, is needed to reverse these trends.
Coverage Differences
tone / advocacy
Given only the IFJ source, the dominant tone here is explicitly advocacy-oriented: the IFJ calls for a UN convention and uses strong language about crisis and impunity. Without other source types for comparison, we cannot show how mainstream or state-aligned outlets might frame these findings more neutrally or defensively; that gap in available sources is noted here.