International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists 2026

On 2 November, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (IDEI), the Public Media Alliance (PMA) stands with the journalists and media workers who have been attacked, threatened or killed for doing their work, and with their colleagues and families.  

Through our work this year – from monitoring attacks on public media, to our research on the safety of women journalists in West Africa, and cross-industry discussions on newsroom mental health and wellbeing – we have watched with concern how threats against journalists are changing form and what follows when no one is held to account. 

Globally, the IFJ has recorded the killing of 15 journalists and media workers so far this year, RSF 25 and CPJ 34. Conflict has driven much of the danger. CPJ recorded a record 129 journalists and media workers killed in 2025 and attributes two thirds of them to Israel, making the war in Gaza the deadliest conflict for journalists it has recorded. No one has been held accountable for any of the targeted killings classified by CPJ as murder. In Russia, 48 journalists were in detention at the end of 2025 according to RSF. 

PMA’s monitoring shows that public media staff and those working with them have not been spared. Just this year, a reporter and a camera operator hired by Italy’s RAI were punched, kicked and threatened by masked assailants while covering protests in Turin, and RTVE crews at anti-migration protests in Ceuta and Madrid were surrounded, spat on and shoved, with one reporter describing around 20 people kicking and striking him. These attacks also reach places typically viewed as safe spaces for journalists – last November, PMA reported on an FBC journalist assaulted outside the Suva High Court in Fiji, the latest in a number of assaults on reporters in and around court precincts, and in the same month a bomb threat forced the evacuation of France Télévisions’ Paris headquarters and halted a live broadcast. 

For women journalists the threats have taken a particularly invasive form. Through our upcoming research with the UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa and IPDC on the safety of women journalists in Ghana and Nigeria, we heard from participants about sexualised trolling, doxxing, digital tracking, and character assassination campaigns designed to discredit their professional authority. Managers and journalists described deepfakes made of female staff and noted that disinformation and politically motivated online attacks rise during election periods. Women journalists in the research described burnout and reported fatigue, which participants linked to the lack of follow-through when they reported abuse, and some described considering leaving the profession. Of course, the anonymity afforded by the online world only exacerbates impunity, let alone real and perceived risk. Elsewhere, we’ve heard similar stories on how the toll reaches well beyond the incident itself. In conversations with journalists and newsrooms as part of the MediaStrong conference, speakers shared how online abuse reaches journalists through the screens they use all day and falls hardest on women and people of colour. 

This IDEI, PMA urges governments and authorities to investigate all credible reports of attacks on journalists, online and offline, and to bring those responsible to account. Meanwhile, news organisations have a duty of care to their staff, contributors and freelancers, and must be equipped with leadership-level support and a dedicated budget. This is another reason why it is imperative that public media are afforded adequate, sustainable and long-term funding.

Across the incidents, the research, and the conversations with newsrooms, one pattern holds: the form of the threat might vary, but the response too often remains slow, partial, or altogether absent, allowing impunity to endure.  

The UK government’s 2026 journalist safety research found that 51 per cent of the 531 journalists surveyed reported negative effects on their wellbeing, and only 26 per cent of those who went to the police found the response effective. 

This IDEI, PMA urges governments and authorities to investigate all credible reports of attacks on journalists, online and offline, and to bring those responsible to account. Meanwhile, news organisations have a duty of care to their staff, contributors and freelancers, and must be equipped with leadership-level support and a dedicated budget. This is another reason why it is imperative that public media are afforded adequate, sustainable and long-term funding.  Finally, platforms should provide dedicated support channels for faster removal of abusive content, including deepfakes, and resolution of journalists’ complaints. 

Threats against journalists will keep changing form. When these attacks go unpunished, journalists are silenced, self-censorship grows, and the scrutiny of those in power goes with them. Ultimately, impunity weakens democracy. Consistent investigation, prosecution and support for those targeted would give journalists the confidence to keep reporting, and the public the accurate information they need.