World Press Freedom Day Marked Amidst Deadly Conflict for Journalists in Gaza

World Press Freedom Day is being commemorated against the backdrop of a particularly perilous time for journalists globally, with the ongoing conflict in Gaza becoming the deadliest for media workers.

More than 100 journalists and media staff, the vast majority of them Palestinian, have been killed in the first seven months of the war in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). This averages out to five journalists killed every week since October 7.

“When we lose a journalist, we lose our eyes and ears to the outside world. We lose a voice for the voiceless,” said Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement today. “World Press Freedom Day was established to celebrate the value of truth and to protect the people who work courageously to uncover it.”

According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Eritrea has the worst press freedom globally, followed by Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran. RSF notes that all independent media have been banned in Eritrea since its transition to dictatorship in 2001, with the media directly controlled by the government.

The crackdown on press freedom is also reflected in high numbers of imprisoned journalists worldwide. As of December 2023, 320 journalists and media workers were imprisoned, led by China with 44 behind bars, many of them Uyghurs.

Other countries with high journalist imprisonment include Myanmar, Belarus, Russia and Vietnam, underscoring the severe threats to press freedom globally.

As the world commemorates World Press Freedom Day, the calls to protect journalists covering conflicts have never been more urgent.