JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

Journalists usually report the news, not live it. At NEMO’s latest Knowledge Exchange Session, representatives from independent exiled media organizations turned that around, reflecting on their own experience of forced relocation: rebuilding infrastructure, securing digital access, and starting over in unfamiliar countries.

The internet is a haven for journalism in countries where press freedom is endangered. Exiled outlets report from abroad, beyond the reach of domestic regulators and press laws. But no space is truly safe: in recent years autocracies have innovated to promote their agendas online, exploit social media algorithms, and block critical media.

Myanmar Satirical Journalism sits at the center of one of the most dramatic press-freedom reversals documented anywhere on this site: a media landscape that had genuinely opened during the 2011 to 2021 reform period collapsed back into severe restriction within weeks of the February 2021 military coup.

Strong institutions make the Baltic states global leaders in media freedom, while independent local media across the Eastern Partnership face unstable, crisis-driven funding and constrained decision-making power. This article presents a report on media development, looking at three interconnected themes: Funding, local ownership, and adaptation.

Nicaraguan journalists who sought refuge in Costa Rica say they are facing surveillance and intimidation linked to the Ortega regime. The reports suggest that repression extends beyond Nicaragua’s borders, undermining Costa Rica’s role as a safe haven and exposing the growing risks of transnational repression for journalists who continue reporting from exile.

A new GIJN feature explores how investigative journalists from Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia collaborate across borders to uncover corruption and environmental crime in the Black Sea region. The story highlights how international partnerships, shared expertise and secure cross-border reporting help sustain accountability journalism under increasing political pressure.

A coalition of human rights organizations warns that Vietnamese authorities are expanding repression beyond national borders, targeting journalists and critics living in Thailand. The cases of exiled journalists Truong Duy Nhat and Duong Van Thai highlight the risks faced by independent reporters abroad, including surveillance, intimidation, detention and threats of forced return.

CIVICUS discusses the repression of press freedom in Djibouti with Zineb Haddaji, an exiled independent journalist who covers Djibouti and the Horn of Africa for international outlets and documents freedom of expression violations. Zineb is the founder of ZoomIn, a weekly TikTok series on daily life and systemic issues in Djibouti.

ANEM announced that four journalists were forced to leave Serbia due to, as it states, repression by the authorities, targeting campaigns and threatened security. The reason for ANEM’s new warning was the departure of military analyst and Nedeljnik contributor Radić, who left the country after pro-government media published footage of him being tracked.

Exiled journalists often struggle to navigate mental health while facing challenges presented by language barriers, burnout, and even Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Some, also face an identity crisis causing them to lose their professional identity, audiences, and the newsroom communities that shaped their daily lives.

RELPEX supports 457 professionals in exile or forced displacement and reports that 60% of the network’s journalists no longer work in journalism due to legal barriers or a lack of employment. A report by RSF indicates that the number of countries from which journalists go into exile has doubled in five years.

Nearly 1,500 journalists from at least 65 countries have received emergency support from Reporters Without Borders after being forced into exile between 2021 and 2025, due to threats of imprisonment and to their lives. This is shown by the data released June 19 ahead of World Refugee Day. Afghanistan accounted for almost half the cases.

In the “newsroom-house” where journalists from the CJ Platform live and work, Min Thu Win Htut, the outlet’s founder, often finds it impossible to sleep. “Around 23:00, when I stop working, it feels like the future goes dark,” Min Thu said. “It’s like I’ve arrived at a future where I don’t know what to do next. This happens almost every night.”

In this article the Iranian writer and journalist Vorya H. Panahi Tazehabad, who lives in exile writes about his own personal experience with persecution, threats, political repression and ongoing safety hazards in exile. The digital age enabled making digital intimidation, monitoring or silencing dissenting voices harder to escape from a distance.

RSF is giving their supported exiled journalist the opportunity to tell their stories in their new blog series Blogreihe home². They write about their lives in between their old and new home, about language, identity, journalistic work and the challenges of a restart. The first edition is written by the Iraqi exiled journalist Shan Sabir living in Germany.

World Refugee Day draws attention to journalists who have been forced to flee their home countries due to threats, conflict, or repression. While exile is now recognized as a growing reality for journalists worldwide, the experiences of journalists CPJ supported last year reflect the reality that relocation does not necessarily bring safety.

The CPJ newletter sent out on the June 17, 2026 talks about current media developments in Latin America, such as threats and intimidations stopping Peruvian journalists from working, imprisonment of two Mexican Journalists in San Luis Potosí on allegations of deliberately and illegally manipulating a person’s digital identity and more.

During this Interview, conducted at a panel talk at Exile Media Hub Berlin, as part of jinn’s program, Editor-in-Chief Myint talks about the pratical and ethical realities of reporting on post-coup civil war realities from inside Myanmar and from exile. He mentions topics such as sustaining independent journalism, searching for viable revenue models in displacement and more.