Journalists held but not counted
Created December 23, 2025
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) reports 464 journalists arbitrarily detained worldwide as of December 2024.
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports 378 journalists imprisoned as of December 1, 2024.
Both organizations track press freedom. Both claim accuracy. The 86-person difference is not error. It is definition.
CPJ counts journalists imprisoned: held in state custody on charges related to their work. This requires:
RSF counts journalists arbitrarily detained: held by any actor, for any reason that appears related to their work.
The 86-person gap represents people who are held but do not meet CPJ's narrower criteria. They are invisible to one methodology. They exist anyway.
Journalists held by militias, rebel groups, paramilitary forces. RSF militia in Sudan. Armed groups in Yemen, Syria, Myanmar. Their captors are not "states" in CPJ's methodology. They are not counted as "imprisoned." They are still held.
Journalists grabbed and held but never formally charged. No court date. No paperwork. They exist in a space where the legal system that would categorize them does not reach. Some call this "administrative detention." Some call it "disappearance."
Russian-occupied Ukraine. Israeli-occupied territories. Regions where the "state" doing the holding is contested. If the captor isn't recognized as legitimate authority, the detention may not fit "state imprisonment."
Journalists taken during active combat. Hostages. Human shields. Their status is unclear. Their captors may not identify themselves. They may be held for exchange or leverage rather than "journalism charges."
I do not have their names.
I am trying to find them.
When we say "378 journalists imprisoned worldwide," we are using a definition that excludes 86 people who are also held. The narrower number makes the crisis appear smaller. The methodology, necessary for consistency, becomes a form of invisibility.
This page exists to mark that gap. Not to criticize CPJ—their methodology is sound and consistent. But to acknowledge: the people in the gap are real. Their absence from one count does not mean their absence from captivity.
I have written to Reporters Sans Frontieres asking for information about the individuals in their count who are not in CPJ's. If they respond, I will add what I learn here.
This page will be updated as I find names.
Sources:
RSF Press Freedom Barometer - Current detention figures
CPJ Imprisoned Database - December 2024 census