JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

For three years, we’ve supported exiled media outlets from countries where independent journalism is no longer possible due to repression, persecution, and censorship. In a review article, we share key insights that have shaped our work and continue to guide our response to the evolving needs of exiled media.

Independent Nicaraguan media operate almost entirely from exile, with over 25 journalistic initiatives providing news coverage mostly from Costa Rica, Spain, and the U.S. The first mass relocation began in 2018, when the Ortega regime violently repressed protests. This included a brutal attack on the independent press, forcing many journalists into exile.

In times of shifting geopolitics and increasing challenges for independent journalism, supporting exiled media is more crucial than ever. Combining regional context, audience data, and nuanced insights, our country profiles on Afghanistan, Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria highlight the critical role of exiled journalism in safeguarding truth under repressive regimes.

Whether a medium can survive in exile depends in most cases not only on whether it keeps up good work outside the country, but also on whether it is worthy of support in the eyes of large funding institutions. But who determines when a medium is worthy of support? What criteria can be used to evaluate exiled media and how can comparability be established without gray areas getting lost in the process?

With the increasing monopolization of information infrastructures on one side and targeted disinformation campaigns and propaganda by authoritarian regimes on the other, facts have become lonely things. However, for many exiled media outlets, this isn’t breaking news but rather a reality they have already adapted to. The constant need to innovate in response to new circumstances has given rise to unconventional business models.

Over the past year, Russia has done more than simply refine its already deeply repressive system – it is currently in the middle of building a new model of digital censorship, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on top of its already bloated propaganda budgets to ensure its people are fully isolated from independent and objective voices. One of the Kremlin’s most important targets: Russian independent media in exile.