JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in 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.

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.

Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, many independent Russian journalists and opposition politicians fled abroad, rebuilding their channels. This article argues that, operating from exile, they have fallen into a trap: creating great content, but the Kremlin controls it. They must shift to a radical new approach, teaching citizens inside Russia how to safely test reality.

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.

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.

Exiled journalist Rana Rahimpour writes on contacting her parents in Iran during the war. She argues that for many Iranians, this war has not brought clarity but deepened uncertainty, especially about what any postwar settlement might look like. While some once believed that external pressure might weaken the regime, something Trump had promised, there is now a growing fear that the opposite could happen.

In this article, some of the hundreds of journalists and defenders of human and land rights have told Open Democracy how their lives have changed since the state of emergency was introduced. Some remain in El Salvador, defiant in their resistance despite fearing for their and their families’ lives amid state-led persecution.

Exiled Afghan journalists are keeping critical reporting alive through Amu TV and its flagship show Jan-e-Gap, broadcasting from studios in the U.S., Canada, France, and Turkey. Host Sadaf Rahimi and co-founders Lotfullah Najafizada and Sami Mahdi connect millions of Afghan viewers to open debate, exposing abuses and giving a voice to those silenced under the Taliban.

Nicaragua’s historic paper La Prensa celebrates its centenary amid ongoing repression, marking 100 years of reporting that now includes operating its newsroom in exile. The anniversary reflects its long struggle for press freedom, the impact of state pressure on independent media and the resilience of journalists continuing to publish from abroad.

In a letter published by Zan Times, author Margaret Atwood addresses Afghan women living under Taliban rule. Drawing parallels to her book The Handmaid’s Tale, she highlights the erosion of rights and underscores writing and solidarity as tools of resistance and dignity.

A new survey by jinn is examining how exiled media outlets are adapting their business models and monetization strategies amid recent funding challenges. Founders and managers of displaced newsrooms are invited to share their experiences.

Exiled Journalist Li Bai’an writes about the inner conflict of journalists in China, who are forced to ignore the truth under state pressure but still remember why they became journalists. She urges them to recognize that their conscience is not gone, only suppressed by fear under Xi Jinping’s rule.

Transnational repression (TNR), the cross-border targeting, intimidation, and harassment of journalists and human rights defenders, is increasingly undermining press freedom and human rights in Europe and beyond. Journalists in exile often remain subjects of sustained threats, surveillance, cyber-attacks, psychological pressure, and harassment long after reaching presumed safety.

Alexander Udikov’s Medium blog offers personal insights into life as a Russian journalist forced into exile after persecution for anti‑war articles. Since receiving political asylum in France in 2024, Udikov chronicles daily life, bureaucratic hurdles, creative workarounds and the ongoing challenge of staying true to independent journalism beyond Russia’s censorship.

The EU’s new return policy risks jeopardising the lives of vulnerable journalists and human rights defenders living in exile. As such, it undermines the very principles of press freedom and human rights it aims to uphold and the safe haven the EU seeks to provide for journalists from all over the world threatened for reporting on the truth. ECPMF and undersigning organisations urge the EU to immediately reconsider these adverse effects and prioritise the protection of those who have already fled persecution.

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, has called for greater international support for Afghan journalists and media outlets, both inside the country and in exile, saying they are the primary defenders and documenters of what is happening under Taliban rule.

The removal from the air of a second American comedian since President Donald Trump was elected in the United States should send chills down the spine of every journalist who worked in Moscow in the early 2000s. That was how President Vladimir Putin began consolidating his power — by attacking mainstream media, starting with television and, notably, TV comedians.