JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

Exiled media outlets often face fundraising systems built for stable, in-country organizations. The Global Forum for Media Development outlines practical adjustments – from framing exile in proposals to budgeting for instability – to help sustain journalism across borders under challenging conditions.

The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) recognises that physical threats to the life, safety, wellbeing, and security of journalists and media organisations remain a serious concern in many European countries. The recent actions of some governments in passing laws that restrict the right to freedom of expression and freedom of the media suggest that there is a need for advocacy against such laws or to improve existing legislation.

This toolkit builds on the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, an initiative designed to expand the field of AI accountability reporting by equipping journalists worldwide with the skills and knowledge necessary to cover AI critically and responsibly. In an effort to make the AI Spotlight Series resources even more accessible, they are open-sourcing the course modules, slide decks, and videos produced by our instructors who are some of the world’s leading tech reporters and editors.

The following list brings together five tools that media outlets and fact-checking organizations use for tasks ranging from tracking disinformation and analyzing its dissemination patterns, to recovering deleted content and analyzing audiovisual material.

Omidyar Network’s Tech Journalism Fund will provide project funding from $5,000 to $25,000 to support reporting costs for journalists working on a singular, time and resource intensive reporting project.

In order to support and guide these journalists and media in exile, CFI, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), SINGA and Maison des Journalistes (MDJ) are launching the Voices in Exile project, supported by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, with the purpose of making France one of the main host countries for journalists in exile.

The publishing of personal identifiable information (PII) online – such as a home address, email, or phone number – without consent in order to harass, intimidate, extort, etc.. You may see your name and PII circulating on social media, websites, or watchlists; receive an influx of abusive and threatening emails, calls, texts, social media messages, and/or physical mail; and/or see or hear about people showing up at your home, work, or events.

In response to the security challenges and humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and its Ukraine: Relief, Resilience, Recovery program is launching a call for project proposals for civil society organizations and independent media from Ukraine.

Editors who want to improve their news output and raise the professionalism of their staff now have access to free training materials. Media Helping Media – which is hosted by the Fojo Media Institute – has 50+ free day-long training lessons and a dozen six-week course modules covering a wide variety of journalistic disciplines. All the material is completely free-of-charge.

The course focuses on discussions and presentations by industry experts specialising in organisational transformation, audience development, and business models. It’s an opportunity for participants to step back from day-to-day operations, share experiences off-the-record with colleagues from other news organisations, expand their professional networks, and develop strategies for their own organisations.

Around the world, countless people are targeted because of their political opinions, activism, or affiliations. They face arrest, surveillance, intimidation, and sometimes even torture or death. For many, fleeing their country is the first step to survival. But once outside of the immediate danger, the question becomes: how can they truly rebuild a life if their old identity continues to expose them to risk?

The Pulitzer Center is now accepting applications for its initiative focused on climate change and its effects on workers and work. As the world heats up, what jobs and employment sectors, what factory practices, what sorts of manufacturing–from computer chips to batteries to food production to fast-fashion–are threatened or must change

Once in exile to escape threats and danger, journalists soon face a new set of challenges: how to sustain their careers, communities and reporting from afar. ICFJ’s International Journalists’ Network (IJNet), in collaboration with the Network of Exiled Media Outlets (NEMO), has expanded its Exiled Media Toolkit to include a comprehensive section on viability, produced by ICFJ Knight Fellow José J. Nieves.

An AI translation tool, able to translate news content into a minority language, has proven successful for a media outlet in Greenland. This case could now inspire others to do the same. In 2023, the Danish tech startup MediaCatch developed an AI translation tool for Sermitsiaq, which is able to quickly translate news content into a minority language ignored by most big tech companies.

MDIF has launched and is now receiving proposals for Amplify Kenya, an innovation and capacity building program for independent media in Kenya. The program is aimed at assisting Kenya based independent media through capacity building, leadership-focused development, and network building within the broader East Africa media landscape.

To support fact-checking initiatives worldwide and reduce the harm of misinformation, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the nonprofit Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalistic excellence, administers the Global Fact Check Fund. This three-year program started in 2023 with three rounds of funding for the year, and those rounds will be repeated in 2024 and 2025.

“Paving the Way” is a comprehensive handbook by the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), designed to support journalists in exile, particularly those relocating to Germany. It offers a curated collection of resources to help media professionals navigate their new environment, including information on legal rights, housing, language acquisition, and professional integration.

Protecting journalism in the AI age means adopting it responsibly. This guide is intended as a starting point for ongoing conversations within your organisation on how to use AI while upholding journalistic values—accuracy, fairness, transparency, and accountability. These principles serve as essential pillars for informed communities worldwide, allowing journalism to fulfil its vital role in society.