A total of 45 journalists were killed worldwide in 2021, according to data by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), it was one of the lowest death tolls it had recorded for any year.
The majority of deaths in 2021 took place in just two regions, the Asia-Pacific with 23 killings and Latin America and the Caribbean with 14.
“Once again in 2021, far too many journalists paid the ultimate price to bring truth to light. Right now, the world needs independent, factual information more than ever,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said.
“We must do more to ensure that those who work tirelessly to provide this can do so without fear,” he added.
The UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists collected fifty-five journalist killings in 2021.
Two-thirds of these took place in countries not experiencing armed conflict, showing the continued risks faced by journalists in their daily reporting to expose wrongdoing.
This marks a complete reversal of the situation just a few years ago, in 2013, when two-thirds of killings took place in countries in conflict.
According to UNESCO, if the number of journalist killings is at its lowest in over a decade, impunity for these crimes remains alarmingly widespread.
UNESCO’s data shows 87 per cent of all journalist killings since 2006 are still unresolved.
Journalists worldwide also continue to be subject to high rates of imprisonment, physical attack, intimidation and harassment, including when covering protests.
Women journalists especially face a shocking prevalence of harassment online a report released by UNESCO in April showed nearly three quarters of surveyed women journalists had experienced online violence linked to their work.
However, impunity for these crimes remains widespread and journalists still face a huge number of risks.