The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Drone Strikes Emerge as Deadly Threat to Journalists, UNESCO Warns
Kampala, Uganda | URN | The growing use of unmanned aerial technology in conflict zones has emerged as a deadly new threat to journalists, with drone strikes killing 50 media workers in 2024 and 2025, according to a new report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The report, released on Monday, November 2, to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, also documented 15 cases in which journalists were killed while wearing press vests or travelling in vehicles clearly marked “Press”, raising fresh concerns about the protection of media personnel in armed conflicts.
In total, UNESCO documented 189 killings of journalists and other media workers during the 2024-2025 period, a 20 per cent increase from the previous biennium and the highest death toll since 2014-2015. Of these, 127 were killed in conflict zones, with drone strikes accounting for 40 per cent of the deaths.
The report further documented seven incidents in which multiple journalists were killed in single attacks, including strikes on media workplaces and temporary reporting centres. The killings come amid a worsening global accountability crisis, with UNESCO reporting that 86 per cent of journalist killings in 2024 and 2025 remained unpunished, marking the first increase in the impunity rate in more than a decade.
“Journalists are increasingly paying with their lives for reporting from the frontlines of war and far too often those responsible for their killings are not held accountable,” UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany said.
The Arab States recorded the highest number of verified journalist killings at 97, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 37, Asia and the Pacific with 34, Central and Eastern Europe with 14, Africa with six, and Western Europe and North America with one. The State of Palestine recorded the highest number of killings in both years, with 30 journalists killed in 2024 and 32 in 2025.
UNESCO called for the enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2222, which reaffirms the protection of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel as civilians during armed conflicts.
Despite the worsening global picture, the report noted that impunity in countries not experiencing conflict had declined from 94 per cent in 2012 to 77 per cent in 2026. The number of journalists killed outside conflict zones also fell to 85, the lowest figure in 18 years, demonstrating that sustained government action through investigations, prosecutions and protection mechanisms can yield results.
However, women journalists continue to face heightened risks. Thirteen of the 14 women journalists killed during the reporting period were in countries experiencing armed conflict.
A 2025 study by UN Women and the International Centre for Journalists found that 75 per cent of women journalists had experienced online or offline abuse and harassment, while more than 40 per cent reported offline violence linked to online attacks.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said journalists continued to pay an unacceptable price for telling the truth, with six out of every seven killings going unpunished.
“On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, we demand justice. When journalists are targeted, and their reporting is extinguished, it makes victims of us all,” he said.
