Executive Summary
From 2020 to 2025, media freedom in conflict zones has come under unprecedented assault. Journalists have been killed in record numbers, imprisoned on spurious charges, and silenced through digital repression and disinformation campaigns. The Gaza war alone has become the deadliest conflict for reporters in modern history.
This report identifies five defining global trends: the deliberate targeting of journalists with violence, the weaponisation of digital tools, the criminalisation of reporting through national security laws, the collapse of local independent media, and the widening gap between international advocacy and meaningful enforcement.
Through regional case studies — Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and beyond — it demonstrates that media freedom is no longer collateral damage in conflict, but increasingly a primary target. The human cost is profound: lost lives, shattered families, silenced communities, and citizens deprived of their right to know.
Protecting journalists is therefore not merely about defending a profession; it is about safeguarding truth, accountability, and the foundations of democracy itself.
Introduction
Media freedom has long been described as the “oxygen of democracy.” In conflict zones, however, it is more than a democratic principle — it is a lifeline. Independent reporting informs civilians, exposes abuses, mobilises humanitarian responses, and documents atrocities for history. Without journalists, the fog of war thickens, leaving only propaganda and misinformation to shape global narratives.
Yet in the past five years, the role of the journalist in conflict has shifted dramatically. Once treated as neutral observers, reporters are now deliberately targeted by state and non-state actors alike. The lines between battlefield and newsroom have blurred, as digital technologies extend the reach of repression far beyond physical frontlines. The profession itself is under siege.
This report examines the global trends defining this crisis, provides regional case studies that illustrate its depth, and reflects on the human cost borne not only by journalists but also by the societies they serve.
💡 “Between 2020 and 2025, more than 500 journalists were killed or injured in conflict zones worldwide.”
2. Key Global Trends (2020–2025)
Violence against journalists has escalated at a shocking pace. CPJ estimates more than five hundred journalists killed or gravely injured since 2020, with Gaza and Ukraine among the deadliest theatres of war for the press. Unlike in previous decades, where deaths were often accidental, today’s conflicts show a clear pattern of deliberate targeting.
Alongside physical danger, the digital battlefield has become equally hostile. Governments and militias use internet shutdowns to silence reporting, deploy spyware to monitor communications, and unleash disinformation to discredit credible voices. The Pegasus spyware scandal revealed how investigative journalists became prime targets, while deepfake videos in Ukraine and Gaza blurred the line between truth and propaganda.
Criminalisation of journalism has become a legal weapon. Egypt and Turkey use anti-terror laws to silence dissent, while Russia’s “foreign agent” legislation forced dozens of outlets into closure or exile. Such measures normalise censorship by cloaking it in the language of national security.
Meanwhile, local media — the most vital source of information in conflict zones — is collapsing. Financial precarity, forced exile, and direct repression have hollowed out media landscapes in Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan, creating information vacuums where propaganda thrives.
The international community, despite repeated commitments, has failed to close the accountability gap. More than four out of five killings of journalists remain unsolved, and UN resolutions have not translated into enforceable protection mechanisms. Impunity has become systemic.
3. Regional Case Studies
The Middle East illustrates these crises most starkly. In Gaza, more than 170 Palestinian journalists have been killed since October 2023, making it the most dangerous conflict for the press in recorded history. Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera within its borders silenced one of the most influential regional networks, while foreign correspondents faced heavy restrictions on entry. Palestinian journalists were left to cover unprecedented destruction at the risk of their own lives. In Yemen and Syria, reporters are caught between multiple warring parties, each seeking to control the narrative through intimidation or violence.
In Ukraine, journalists have faced lethal risks from frontline shelling and drone strikes. Russian authorities have criminalised independent coverage, while Ukraine has imposed restrictions on embedding with combat units. Disinformation campaigns — from fake images of atrocities to coordinated propaganda — have turned the war into a battle for perception as much as territory.
Myanmar has seen a total collapse of press freedom since the 2021 coup. More than 150 journalists have been imprisoned, many tortured, while internet blackouts crippled reporting during military crackdowns. Independent outlets have been driven into exile, effectively erasing domestic journalism.
Afghanistan has witnessed a near-total silencing of independent media under Taliban rule. Women journalists have been banned from broadcasting in many provinces, dozens of outlets have shut down, and widespread self-censorship has become the norm. International media presence has dwindled, leaving Afghan citizens with almost no credible domestic reporting.
Other flashpoints further underscore the trend. In Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict, journalists were detained, disappeared, and killed under a near-total information blackout. In Sudan’s civil war, reporters covering street battles in Khartoum were assaulted or detained. In Latin America, cartel violence has made Mexico and Colombia among the most lethal countries for journalists outside official war zones.
⚠️ “In Gaza alone, more journalists were killed in 18 months than in any other conflict in modern history.”
4. The Human Cost
Behind the statistics lies a devastating human toll. Every journalist killed is a voice silenced and a community left without reliable information. The loss of Al Jazeera journalist Samer Abu Daqa in Gaza, alongside many others, has become emblematic of the sacrifices borne by the profession. Families of slain reporters face not only grief but also economic hardship and, in many cases, reprisals.
Survivors carry deep psychological scars. Journalists in Ukraine speak of the trauma of documenting mass civilian casualties under constant threat of shelling. In Gaza, reporters continue filing stories even after losing family members, illustrating both resilience and the immense human burden.
Exile compounds the suffering. Thousands of journalists from Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar now live abroad in precarious conditions, struggling to continue their work while cut off from the stories of their homelands.
The ultimate casualty, however, is the public. When journalists are silenced, societies are deprived of truth. Citizens cannot hold leaders accountable, humanitarian crises go undocumented, and propaganda fills the void. The erosion of press freedom in conflict zones is therefore not merely a professional crisis but a profound democratic deficit with global consequences.
“The death of a journalist is not only the loss of a professional. It is the loss of truth for an entire community.”
Conclusion
The years 2020 to 2025 have been a sobering reminder that media freedom is fragile and under siege. Journalists in conflict zones face physical, legal, and digital threats that together constitute the most severe crisis for press freedom in decades. Protecting them is not a matter of professional solidarity alone but a democratic necessity.
For policymakers, NGOs, and media organisations, the task ahead is clear: strengthen protections, enforce accountability, and ensure that no war zone is also a zone of silence. At Westminster Consultancy, we remain committed to analysing these challenges and supporting global efforts to defend media freedom where it is most under threat.