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Russia Preps to Block Income of ‘Foreign Agent’ Journalists

  • CPJ

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, CPJ has tracked 247 journalists branded as foreign agents and 6 exiled journalists sentenced in absentia. With a new law set to take effect in 2025, exiled media faces even tighter controls, forcing them to funnel earnings into special accounts as authorities continue their crackdown.

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Independent Media in Russia, Ukraine Lose Their Funding

  • The Washington Post
  • David L. Stern & Robyn Dixon

Independent media in Russia and Ukraine, critical for alternative reporting, have lost funding due to a USAID freeze. Many exiled Russian outlets, reliant on U.S. grants to reach Russian audiences with war and political coverage, now face a challenging future with the loss of critical financial support.

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Beyond the “Good Russian” – Rethinking Exile and Engagement

  • Kennan Institute
  • Sofia Gavrilova

Sofia Gavrilova explores the complex challenges Russian emigrants face since 2022, navigating tensions with host societies, fellow exiles, and their homeland. She argues that for a democratic Russia’s future, Russian exiles must move beyond victimhood, actively engage with local communities, and build bridges through concrete actions and inclusive dialogue.

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Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze Throws Global Journalism into Chaos

  • RSF

President Donald Trump has frozen billions of dollars around the world in aid projects, including over $268 million allocated by Congress to support independent media and the free flow of information. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounces this decision, which has plunged NGOs, media outlets, and journalists doing vital work into chaotic uncertainty.

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Kremlin Blocks YouTube, Russian Users Find Workarounds

  • The New York Times
  • Paul Sonne

Paul Sonne (NYT) reports on the Kremlin’s efforts to cripple YouTube in Russia, pushing users toward state-controlled platforms. While many Russians are finding ways around the restrictions through VPNs, journalist Ilya Shepelin, now in exile, warns that only politically active users will remain on YouTube.

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Editor in exile: One journalist’s daring escape from Myanmar

  • Index on Censorship
  • Ian Wylie

Kyaw Min Swe, the former editor-in-chief of weekly newspaper Aasan (The Voice) and executive director of the Myanmar Journalism Institute, has been a journalist for more than 25 years. He had been detained before, but this time was different. Index traveled to Germany to meet exiled newspaper editor Kyaw, who faced torture and imprisonment at the hands of the military junta.

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‘Nicaragua Has Become a Terrorist State’

  • IPS
  • Wendy Quintero Chávez & Lucía Pineda Ubau

Journalists Wendy Quintero Chávez and Lucía Pineda Ubau shed light on the harsh realities of systemic torture, rigged elections, and the fight for press freedom in Nicaragua. Since 2018, over 350 lives have been lost, 56 media outlets banned, and 900+ exiled. Despite facing threats and violence, they continue to fight for truth and the right to report freely, even from exile.

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Taliban Have Detained 300 Media Workers Since 2021

  • Amu TV
  • Habib Mohammadi

The Afghanistan Journalists in Exile in a statement on Sunday said that the Taliban have detained at least 300 journalists and media workers during their three years of rule in the country, describing the detainees as having endured “profound and indescribable violence” while in custody.

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Bypassing Censorship to Reach Audiences in Iran

  • ijnet
  • Devin Windelspecht, Stratton Marsh

For nearly 20 years, Zamaneh Media has bridged the gap in one of the world’s most repressive information ecosystems: Iran. Operating from the Netherlands, the outlet delivers critical reporting on human rights, politics, and culture to audiences inside Iran, overcoming censorship, threats, and digital attacks.

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Activist and Blogger Lu Yuyu On Escaping China

  • The Guardian
  • Amy Hawkins

Chinese dissident Lu Yuyu’s perilous escape from China reveals the high stakes of documenting unrest under an authoritarian regime. Once jailed for exposing protests, Lu now rebuilds his life in Canada while navigating China’s growing digital censorship.

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People in Russia “Need the Truth”

  • Voice of America
  • Liam Scott

Exiled Russian journalist Alesya Marokhovskaya works as an editor for IStories. Despite legal threats and surveillance, her investigative outlet strives to connect with Russians seeking truth amid a landscape dominated by misinformation.

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Nicaragua’s Proposed Media Reform

  • Voice of America
  • Graham Keeley

Nicaragua is expected to rubber stamp a change to its constitution in January that alters presidential power and increases state control over media. If ratified, the change would mandate that the state has power to ensure media outlets and platforms are not “subject to foreign interests and do not spread false news.”

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Azerbaijan: Authorities are Targeting Journalists

  • GlobalVoices
  • Arzu Geybullayeva

Azerbaijan’s press freedom crisis deepens as six Meydan TV journalists face smuggling charges and four-month detention. Arrests align with a broader crackdown targeting opposition media, activists, and politicians, raising alarm over escalating repression in Baku.

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Tajikistan’s Journalists In Exile

  • OCCRP
  • Muhamadjon Kabirov and Firuzi Makhmadali

The repressive Central Asian nation has never been an easy place to be a journalist. But a notorious crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2022 took a bad situation and made it worse, sending some journalists to jail and others into exile.

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RSF’s 2024 Round-up

  • RSF

The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2024 Round-up reveals an alarming intensification of attacks on journalists — especially in conflict zones, where over half of the news professionals who lost their lives this year perished.

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On Sustainability for Exiled Newsrooms

  • ICFJ
  • Caro Gaston

José J. Nieves is developing resources to help newsrooms in exile plan for a sustainable future. Originally from Cuba, Nieves has been running his independent media platform El Toque from exile since 2019.

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Newsrooms Fight Back Against Criminalization

  • Nieman Lab
  • José Zamora

In 2025, attacks on journalists are set to escalate. A disturbing global trend continues to expand: the use of criminal law to silence journalists. This tactic, perfected by authoritarian regimes in places like Nicaragua, Venezuela, Russia, China, and the Philippines, is now spreading worldwide.

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