To mark World Press Freedom Day 2026 on May 3, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched a groundbreaking new report that examines the underrecognized role of core labour rights in protecting journalists and media professionals across the globe. The report delivers a stark assessment of the escalating risks faced by media workers, shedding new light on the systemic threats that have plagued the industry for decades. According to official data published alongside the analysis, more than 1,850 journalists have been killed in the line of duty since 1993. Countless more have been subjected to arbitrary detention, forced disappearance, and routine intimidation. Alarmingly, the ILO confirms that the vast majority of these deadly attacks remain unsolved, allowing perpetrators to act with total impunity.
Physical violence is not the only threat facing modern media workers, the report emphasizes. Journalists now face a growing spectrum of hazards, from aggressive legal intimidation tactics designed to silence critical reporting to coordinated harassment and abuse across digital platforms. Women journalists, in particular, are disproportionately targeted by gendered digital threats that create a chilling effect on independent media.
The ILO’s analysis pushes beyond conventional conversations about press freedom, arguing that guaranteeing the safety of media workers requires far more than protecting freedom of expression alone. Instead, the report makes the case that universal access to fundamental labour rights is an equally, if not more, critical component of meaningful journalist protection. Within this framework, the publication explores how established core labour rights, paired with widely accepted international labour standards, can reinforce existing safety frameworks. It also outlines clear pathways for governments, media outlet owners, media worker unions, and industry representative bodies to collaborate on developing more robust, effective safety protocols for newsrooms and field reporting.
“Journalists are key defenders of human and labour rights,” noted Frank Hagemann, Director of Sectoral Policies at the ILO, in comments accompanying the report’s release. “They are also workers, and labour rights offer an important tool for protecting journalists at work.”
Beyond this new report, the ILO reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to advancing journalist safety globally through its participation in the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. First endorsed in 2012 by the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, the cross-institutional initiative was created to coordinate global action to address rising threats to media workers and end the culture of impunity that allows attacks on journalists to go unpunished. The full 588KB report is available for public download to support further industry and policy discussion on this critical issue.