Journalists under fire

While nearly 200 journalists were killed worldwide in 2024 and 2025, justice remains rare, with almost nine in 10 killings of journalists unresolved.“In 2024 and 2025 alone, 189 journalists were killed in violent attacks; 67% occurred in conflict zones,” Unesco said in a report issued on International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on Monday.The report added that justice remains elusive.“For the first time since Unesco started measuring the global impunity rate in 2012, the overall rate has increased by one percentage point to 86%, leaving almost nine out of ten killings judicially unresolved.”The report added that for women journalists, “these new risks are compounded by gender-based violence, online abuse and other targeted threats”.Interests servedThe Namibia Media Trust (NMT) Media Foundation, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) issued separate statements on Monday in response to the findings, warning that threats against media workers continue to undermine press freedom.Unesco’s report also found that more than 1 600 journalists were killed worldwide between 2006 and 2025, with close to six in seven cases unresolved.NMT executive director Zoé Titus said the lack of justice for attacks on journalists was most entrenched where journalism challenged concentrated political and economic power.She said investigations into mining, land acquisition, pollution and illegal resource extraction often expose links between governments, private companies and individuals who benefit.“In many African contexts these are overlapping networks, with licences, concessions and contracts linking public office to private gain,” Titus explained. “The question which matters is whose interests are served when those threats go unanswered,” she added.Press freedom undermined The foundation also highlighted the vulnerability of environmental journalists, citing Unesco findings that at least 749 journalists and news outlets covering environmental issues were attacked in 89 countries between 2009 and 2023.Of the 44 environmental journalists killed during that period, only five cases resulted in convictions.Meanwhile, the AUC and FAJ called on African governments to strengthen protections for journalists and ensure perpetrators of crimes against media workers are brought to justice.In a joint statement, AU commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, ambassador Bankole Adeoye and FAJ president Omar Faruk Osman expressed solidarity with journalists who have been killed, injured, detained, threatened or forced into exile for doing their work.This year’s global theme, 'Threats evolve. Impunity endures', highlights how emerging technologies and evolving weapons are changing the risks journalists face, particularly those reporting from conflict zones.Journalists covering elections, investigating corruption and reporting human rights violations often operate under severe pressure. A lack of accountability, moreover, emboldens perpetrators and silencing public-interest reporting.The AU and FAJ urged member states to establish or strengthen national safety mechanisms, ensure law enforcement respects the role of the media and protect journalists covering protests, elections, emergencies and armed conflicts.Both organisations stressed that attacks on journalists also violate the public’s right to freedom of expression and access to information.“Every journalist must be able to report without fear of violence or reprisal,” the joint statement said.

Journalists under fire

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-03

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Journalists under fire

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Namibian Sun 2026-11-03

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