JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

After the Taliban seized control in 2021, Afghanistan saw a mass departure of independent journalists and media organizations. Since then, almost 40% of its media outlets have ceased operations, and numerous journalists and media professionals have fled abroad. Many went on to establish new platforms abroad, often as successors to now-defunct Afghan media.

In the face of deepening authoritarianism, Azerbaijan’s independent media have undergone a dramatic displacement. What was once a small but active journalistic community has, over the past decade, been pushed almost entirely beyond the country’s borders. Today, the exiled media sector operates primarily from Berlin, Tbilisi, and various locations in the United States.

Following the crackdown on the independent media sector in the second half of 2021, most independent media left Belarus. It is estimated that at least 47 active independent media currently operate from exile. Most of the Belarusian media in exile have found their new homes in Poland and Lithuania, from where they continue to serve Belarusian audiences. reaching up to 21% of the population inside the country.

Myanmar’s independent media has faced two major waves of exile, each with profound structural consequences. The initial wave occurred during the 1990s and 2000s under military regimes, when outlets like The Irrawaddy and Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) operated from various locations, notably including Thailand and Norway.

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.

The history of Russian independent media operating in exile is at least a decade old. But the mass exodus – counting dozens of outlets and hundreds of journalists – only started after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the related crackdown on free speech. The number of media operating outside Russia has since proceeded in waves – driven by growing repressions, both administrative and physical, as well as rising digital censorship.

Independent Syrian media in exile emerged as a result of the 2011 uprising and its violent repression: often emerging from citizen journalism and then evolving into professionalized newsrooms operating across borders. Over the past decade, the sector experienced waves of displacement – first into neighbouring countries (2012–2013), then deeper into Europe (2015–2016), especially after conditions in Turkey, where many media initially relocated to, deteriorated.