We can’t let them get away with it

Unprecedented crimes against journalists call for unprecedented actions

The Committee to Protect Journalists called on October 30, 2025, for radical reform of the systems to investigate journalist killings and hold perpetrators to account, after the deadliest three years for journalists and media workers since CPJ began keeping records. 

More than 125 journalists and media workers were killed in 2024 alone, the majority of them Palestinians killed by Israel. Despite clear evidence of deliberate targeting in many of these cases, no one has been held accountable for their deaths, reflecting a broader and entrenched global pattern, in which the killers of journalists are getting away with murder.

Despite decades of concerted efforts — including the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists — CPJ’s data and other research show that impunity remains entrenched, creating an environment that fosters further attacks on journalists, and on democratic norms more widely.

In view of stagnant meaningful progress, CPJ is overhauling its own approach to impunity. In coming years, we will prioritize new efforts to pursue accountability and justice, including a focus on global investigative mechanisms to pursue justice for murdered journalists. 

In particular, we will focus on:

1. The establishment of a standing independent international investigative task force focused on violent crimes against journalists 

Such a body should be readily available to support investigations – local, regional or international – into attacks. Blueprints for a body, initially proposed in 2020 by a panel of legal experts, exist and a feasibility study has been completed. Governments within the Media Freedom Coalition of states committed to supporting free and independent media should lead the establishment of such a body. 

2. Pursuit of justice in key cases

The experience of the past decade has shown that one of the most effective mechanisms for tackling impunity is a relentless pursuit of justice in individual cases. CPJ will dedicate increased resources to a select number of such emblematic cases, supporting families and local communities in their often-lengthy fights to continue investigations and prosecutions. 

3. Increased accountability of companies 

Companies can often play a key role in enabling attacks on journalists. CPJ will step up its focus on investigating and seeking accountability over the use of companies’ technology in cases where journalists were targeted or harmed, including advocating for new legislation and regulation where necessary to limit the procurement, export, or use of spyware and other surveillance technologies that could be used to harm journalists.

4. Increased use of targeted sanctions and incentives

CPJ will seek to work with governments to develop targeted sanctions against perpetrators of crimes against journalists, and will encourage the introduction of robust clauses on tackling the causes of impunity into international agreements. 

As the Committee to Protect Journalists turns its efforts to these actions, the organization is pausing the publication of its Global Impunity Index. The Index, launched in 2008, was a critical tool in setting the agenda to recognize and tackle impunity. However, given the unrelenting nature of impunity and the new landscape that journalists face, we believe this is the right time to review the Index.

Read about the devastation to journalists when justice is denied