JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

RSF brought together EU institutions and exiled journalists to discuss countering Kremlin propaganda through the Svoboda satellite package. The initiative reaches millions of households in Russia and Belarus, helping exiled outlets bypass internet censorship and reconnect with audiences at home. The event also highlighted the need for continued support for exiled media.

After five years in exile, Carlos Chamorro reflects on how Confidencial continues reporting on Nicaragua from abroad. He outlines the challenges of protecting sources and collaborators, verifying information without journalists on the ground, reaching audiences inside Nicaragua despite censorship, and sustaining a newsroom across borders.

Ten rights groups, led by RSF, are pressing Guatemalan authorities to turn President Arévalo’s acknowledged “historic debt” to exiled journalists into concrete guarantees—covering safe return, reviewed prosecutions, stronger protections, and non-recurrence—after a report documented at least 16 forced into exile over the past decade.

Good journalism alone doesn’t pay the bills, says Marius Dragomir of the Media and Journalism Research Center. In this interview, he explains why quality and revenue require different skills, how donor dependence quietly shapes editorial choices, and why small outlets are “captured through starvation” rather than acquisition—plus what funders consistently get wrong.

A new report from Cloudflare, a company that provides cybersecurity services to internet providers, highlights the array of digital transnational repression tactics employed against exile media outlets and journalists. The report finds that around 5 percent of the 41 billion requests directed to exile journalism websites between February 2025 and January 2026 were harmful and sought to disrupt the outlets’ connections to their readers.

China and Russia, principally, test the limits of this new period of autocratic impunity—not just in the abstract but in ways that fundamentally impact citizens, businesses, democratic institutions, and the practice of basic freedoms in every region. This essay series analyzes how these emerging patterns will create new vulnerabilities for democracy actors.

Ten years after a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Turkey’s independent media has been largely dismantled through a combination of mass imprisonment, outlet closures, regulatory punishment, internet censorship and the consolidation of media ownership in pro-government hands. This and more has continued putting pressure on journalists in exile.

Across much of Asia, a quiet transformation is taking place in journalism. While many established news organizations continue to grapple with declining advertising revenue, shifting audience behavior, platform dependence, and growing competition for attention, a diverse group of independent digital publishers is attempting to chart a different course.

What do Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser, Philippine journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan have in common? All were prosecuted in the name of “national security” between 2020 and 2026. They are far from isolated cases. From Gaza to Hong Kong to Managua, 100s of journalists are being targeted for providing citizens with reliable news.

Media development actors and funders globally are grappling with how best to measure results. An updated version of the IMS impact assessment tool is out now. It is also translated into six different language. The tool help editorial teams measure the impact of media projects based on effective ways to define targets and track progress and results.

At an IRE26 panel, exiled journalists from Iran, Tibet, and Venezuela shared advice on reporting from afar: prioritize source protection and trust-building, verify via NGOs or satellite imagery, collaborate across networks, and resist “propaganda creep”, subtle state-shaped terms and narratives seeping into Western coverage.

Poisonings, cyberattacks, raids on the homes of family member, russian journalists are persecuted by their authoritarian home country even when in exile. Yet, media professionals in exile in Germany, their host country, are a vital part of an informed society and defend all of our rights to reliable information. Read the RSF report on it here.

RSF finds Russian journalists in Germany face transnational repression including surveillance, digital attacks, intimidation, pressure on relatives and even suspected poisonings. The report urges Germany and the EU to better protect exiled media through dedicated support, reporting mechanisms, sanctions and coordinated action to safeguard press freedom.

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 podcast episode of Booda Media’s “Fasl-e-Digher” program, Lina Rozbeh, a renowned Afghan poet, writer and journalists talks about women, migration, war, identity, freedom, the Taliban and the current situation and future of Afghanistan. Moreover, she discusses her experience in media and literature, the fate of women, the role of intellectuals and the responsibility of media.

To mark World Refugee Day on 20 June, RSF released a map showing the exile of journalists supported by RSF since 2021. Against an international backdrop the number of countries from which media professionals fled has doubled in five years. For these journalists continuing their work is hampered by the dangers that come with it and the limitations of reception policies.

While Finland ranks among the world leaders in press freedom, it still offers too few measures to help journalists forced into exile continue their work. This is the central finding of “When You Arrive in Finland, You Step into a Dark Room”, a report backed by eight Finnish organisations, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Finland.

It’s an understandable question. Across the sector, unrestricted funding feels harder to find than ever, especially after US aid cuts. Many organisations are juggling project grants, restricted contracts, and short-term opportunities while trying to cover the basic costs that keep operations running. This article explores new funding strategies and ongoing core support options.