Year in review: The most-read press freedom stories of 2024

The 2024 news cycle was dominated by Israel’s unrelenting war on Gaza. While The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)  painstakingly documented attacks against journalists in that war, we also recorded arrests of journalists in China and reported a myriad of threats to journalists in Mexico.

We also continued to provide support to Ukrainian journalists, Russian journalists in exile, and journalists fleeing devastating conflict in Sudan. We provided VPNs to newsrooms in countries with crackdowns on internet access, and digital and physical safety training to American journalists covering an election that gripped the world’s attention. We’ve provided over 1 million dollars to exile support, legal fees, and trauma support around the world.

The year has been challenging — especially as a wide range of authoritarian governments continue to sow distrust in the media. Despite all of this, CPJ has refused to be cowed. Much like the brave reporters we protect around the world, we refuse to quit.

Here is a collection of our most-read alerts and reports from over the past year.

The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

CPJ has tracked record numbers of journalist killings in the war zone.

We also documented other attacks, including harassment, arrests, and intimidation.

At the beginning of the year, CPJ analysis found that more than three-quarters of the 99 journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2023 died in the Israel-Gaza war. Once the deaths in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon are excluded, killings dropped markedly compared to 2022; however, the declining number is not an indication that journalism has become safer in other parts of the world.

CPJ’s annual prison census report found that as of December 1, 2023, 320 journalists were behind bars. The number was the second-highest recorded by CPJ since the census began in 1992 — a disturbing barometer of entrenched authoritarianism and the vitriol of governments determined to smother independent voices.

Ahead of the November U.S. elections, CPJ research found that the hostile media climate fostered during Donald Trump’s presidency continued to fester, with members of the press confronting challenges – including violence, lawsuits, online harassment, and police attacks – that could shape the global media environment for decades.

“Freedom of expression in Ethiopia has not only died; it has been buried,” journalist Belete Kassa said of a crackdown against the press after the government declared a state of emergency in August 2023. CPJ spoke with him and other Ethiopian journalists operating in exile.

CPJ continued to provide short-term, emergency support to working journalists and media workers following an incident related to their journalistic work. CPJ’s resources and explanations of the scope of our assistance are always available on our website.

Explore our database of attacks on the press.

CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists)