According to UNESCO, every four days a journalist is killed in the world. In nine of 10 cases, the killers go unpunished. While conflict zones have presented the greatest threat to journalists over the past decade, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that out of 2,204 journalists and media workers killed between 1992 and 2023, 946 of them—nearly half—were murdered while working in a non-conflict zone. In fact, UNESCO’s 2022 Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity found that journalists have become less safe in countries not experiencing armed conflict than they are in conflict countries.
Violence against journalists has a chilling effect that can lead to journalistic self-censorship, with profound implications for citizens’ access to high-quality information. As the Council of Europe declares “at the center of the supreme value of democracy and human rights is the right of everyone to receive and impart information.” Threats to journalists directly undermine the public's fundamental right to information and to engage in public debate. Research demonstrates that threats against journalists are a significant predictor of self-censorship and future human rights abuses, reduce the volume of journalism, and affect the tone of the journalism. Over time, violence also reduces the number of journalists and news outlets.
This edition of the DRG Learning Digest examines the following topics:
- Where are Journalists Most at Risk? Hybrid Regimes
- Engaging the Traditional Justice Sector to Protect Journalists
- When the Justice System Falters: Pioneering Grassroots Approaches