NEW YORK – December 29, 2015 – The Committee to Protect Journalists says 2015 was one of the deadliest years on record for members of the press worldwide, with 69 journalists killed on-assignment.  According to the CPJ, 2015 was the sixth year out of the last ten (and eighth since 1992) in which more than 60 journalists were killed in the line of duty—a figure that includes those targeted for their profession as well as those killed in combat, crossfire or while covering other assignments deemed dangerous. 

Deadliest Countries for Journalists in 2015

For the fourth consecutive year, the death toll among journalists in Syria topped CPJ’s 2015 list—a figure currently at 13, and a steep decline from previous years: 31 journalists were killed in Syria in 2012; 29 and 17 were killed in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
However, the number alone does not tell the complete story.  CPJ reports that the declining deaths in Syria can be attributed, in part, to the reduced number of journalists working in the country—both as a decision among international news organizations not to send reporters to the country and among local journalists to flee into exile.
In addition, there are cases throughout the region in which journalists are either missing or whose deaths could not be confirmed.  
“It’s really challenging to investigate the killings of journalists in places like Iraq, like Syria, where there are such high levels of violence and so little information coming out,” said CPJ’s Advocacy Director, Courtney Radsch in an interview via Skype.  
In Mosul, Iraq, CPJ investigated 35 cases of journalists reported either missing, dead, or held captive by the so-called Islamic State.  However, CPJ could confirm the deaths of only “a handful.”