CPJ Pulls Global Impunity Report After Israel Would Rank #1

In a move that has triggered internal anger and public scrutiny, whistleblowers within the Committee to Protect Journalists say the organization has discontinued its annual Impunity Index, a benchmark widely cited by the UN and press-freedom advocates to track unsolved murders of journalists around the world.

The Impunity Index, published each year since 2008, ranks countries based on the number of journalist killings that go without accountability relative to population over a decade. The ranking is regularly referenced in UN reports as an authoritative indicator of where justice for murdered journalists fails.

According to current and former CPJ staffers who spoke to The Electronic Intifada, the organization’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg canceled the 2025 edition after internal data showed Israel was set to top the ranking — largely due to a surge in fatalities among Palestinian and other journalists during the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Whistleblowers allege the decision was influenced by pressure from CPJ’s board, “pro-Israel donors,” and concerns about external backlash, a charge the organization disputes. In a December 2025 internal message obtained by The Electronic Intifada, Ginsberg proposed replacing the annual ranking with a shorter statement focused on a handful of emblematic cases, citing methodological limitations in the Index.

The last published Impunity Index — covering incidents through 2023 — already placed Israel second among nations where killers of journalists escaped accountability, just behind Haiti. Insiders say that, had the 2025 Index been released, Israel would have surged into first place.

CPJ, an organization dedicated to defending journalists and press freedom worldwide, maintains that the Impunity Index required reevaluation and that future efforts will “prioritize accountability,” though it has offered few details about how new approaches will work or whether they will produce the same level of transparency and media attention as the Index did.

The decision has sparked “deep disappointment, anger and resentment” among CPJ staff, according to the whistleblowers, who argue that removing the Index weakens one of the most concrete and widely cited tools for exposing impunity in crimes against journalists.

Supporters of the change contend the Index had limitations and that a more flexible approach may better capture the complexity of impunity in conflicts and repressive environments — but critics say scrapping a data-driven global ranking at this moment, risks undermining international efforts to hold powerful actors accountable.

©TNPP