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Paul Icamina - The Philippine Star
February 17, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — For the first time in 20 years, no Filipino journalist was killed in 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a special report.
“The Philippines marked its first year in two decades without a journalist killing, which analysts said could indicate that President Marcos has taken a comparatively milder tone toward the press than his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who frequently threatened the media,” the CPJ said.
The CPJ report, released Feb. 12, listed the Philippines as one of six countries “consistently deadly” for journalists from 1998 to 2024, involving cases that were work-related or “possibly” work-related.
From 1998 to 2024, Iran led the list with 226 deaths, followed by the Philippines with 149 and Mexico with 147. Pakistan ranked fourth with 94 fatalities, followed by India with 73 and Somalia with 72.
CPJ only designates a killing as murder when its research indicates that there is clear evidence to suggest that the journalist was killed because of his or her work.
Record-breaking
Globally, 2024 was the deadliest year for journalists in CPJ history, a “record-breaking” year for press killings, said the independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide.
More journalists were killed in 2024 worldwide than in any other year since the CPJ began collecting data more than three decades ago.
“At least 124 journalists and media workers were killed last year, nearly two-thirds of them Palestinians killed by Israel,” it said.
“All of the 2024 killings point to the increased dangers facing reporters and media workers – and the threat that poses to the flow of information worldwide,” the CPJ added.
The report also revealed that the number of conflicts globally – whether political, criminal, or military in nature – has doubled in the past five years, and this is reflected in the high number of deaths of journalists in nations such as Sudan, Pakistan and Myanmar.
The global total of 124 deaths exceeded the record high of 113 killed in 2007, when the Iraq war accounted for almost half of journalist casualties.
Outside of Gaza (82) and Lebanon (3), CPJ documented the killing of 39 other journalists and media workers in 16 nations in 2024, with the deadliest being Sudan (6), Pakistan (6), Mexico (5), Syria (4), Myanmar (3), Iraq (3) and Haiti (2).
“Conditions can grow more lethal for the press when those who kill journalists are not held to account. And fewer journalists means less information for citizens seeking the truth,” the CPJ said.
“The toll of conflict on the press is most glaring in the unprecedented number of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war, 85 in 2024, and 78 in 2023,” it noted.
Based in New York City, the CPJ Board of Directors includes two Filipinos: Sheila Coronel of the Columbia University School of Journalism and Maria Ressa of Rappler.
