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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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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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A North Korean Voice That Kim Jong-un Would Like to Silence

  • The New York Times
  • Choe Sang-Hun

Defying cancer and constant threats, North Korean defector Kim Seongmin broadcasts uncensored news into North Korea, challenging Pyongyang’s grip on information. Through Free North Korea Radio, he inspires hope among those isolated by censorship—even as Kim Jong-un tightens his authoritarian rule.

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“Journalists Will Continue Their Work Despite Repression”

  • Confidecial / Havana Times
  • Carlos F. Chamorro

After 813 days in solitary confinement, Guatemalan journalist Jose Ruben Zamora returns home, committed to exposing corruption despite heavy repression. In this interview, Zamora discusses the ongoing threats to press freedom under Guatemala’s authoritarian regime and his determination to continue the fight.

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Chinese Journalist Dai Qing’s Quiet Life in Exile

  • Radio Free Asia

Veteran Chinese journalist Dai Qing, 83, now lives in exile in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she is working on her forthcoming book “Notes on History”. A prominent critic of the Three Gorges Dam project and a supporter of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Dai now enjoys a quiet life among a community of exiled Chinese intellectuals, reflecting on her past activism while staying informed about China’s current political climate.

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Media in Exile is Defeating Censorship in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela

  • Cinfidencial
  • Carlos F. Chamorro

Journalists in exile from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela continue to resist authoritarian censorship despite extreme repression. Awarded the IAPA’s Grand Prize for Press Freedom, they highlight the challenges and innovations necessary to sustain independent journalism amid growing threats.

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Journalists In Exile Expose Government Brutality

  • Outlook
  • Shweta Desai

Netra News, an independent news outlet in exile, is known for its rare feat in investigative reportage exposing corruption in the Bangladesh government and abuse of security agencies. Outlook spoke to its founder Tasneem Khalil on running an online news platform from Sweden, tracking political instability and protests in Bangladesh.

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Turkey: Exiled Journalist Reveals State-Politics-Relations

  • Turkish Minute

Can Dündar, a Turkish journalist and author living in exile, has uncovered shady relations between the deep state and politicians in Turkey based on the narratives from a series of videos released by notorious Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker in 2021.

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Drug-related Violence Fuels an Exodus of Ecuador’s Press

  • Committee to Protect Journalists
  • John Otis

On the only radio station in the remote Ecuadorian town of Baeza, morning show host Juan Carlos Tito updates listeners on the weather, recent power outages, and repairs to a bridge spanning a nearby river. For the last 24 years, Tito, 53, has been the trusted voice of Radio Selva, broadcasting important community news to this town of 2,000 in the Andean highlands. But now, Tito’s voice is beamed into Baeza from abroad.

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Back to Zero. Journalists in German Exile

  • WDR
  • Patrick Batarilo

In recent years, Germany has become a place of refuge for hundreds of journalists who have had to flee their home countries. Many now continue to work from here and try to improve conditions in their countries of origin. Can they succeed?

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Who Is Telling Eritrea’s Stories?

  • IJNet
  • Aurora Martínez

Since 1993, Eritrea’s regime has suppressed media and freedom of expression. Exiled journalists defy censorship to inform their fellow citizens and keep independent reporting alive. IJNet puts some of them in the spotlight.

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Exiled, Not Silenced

  • WAN-IFRA
  • Lucinda Jordaan

She has been actively developing grassroots journalism in a region where ethnic minorities have struggled to have their stories heard in the face of the dominant community’s influence. Now in exile, Nan Paw Gays commitment to advancing the voices of the ethnic minorities in Myanmar continues. In an interview with WAN-IFRA she shares thoughts and experiences of her journey in exile.

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Recognizing Journalists Living in Exile

  • Human Rights Watch
  • Elaine Pearson

Today, Human Rights Watch and its partners announced the recipients of the 2024 Human Rights Press Awards for outstanding reporting on human rights issues across Asia. For the first time, this year’s awards included the category of “newsrooms in exile.”

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Stepping Out of Beijing’s Shadow

  • Voice of America
  • Liam Scott

Held under house arrest in China before fleeing to Europe, the  journalist Su Yutong is still targeted for her coverage of human rights and politics. From smear campaigns and people sharing her address on an underground sex website, to false bomb threats made in her name, the harassment has left a deep mark.

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Born in Nicaragua, Forced Into Exile

  • ijnet
  • Aurora Martínez

In 2020, Nicaragua contended not just with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also intensified repression from the administration of Daniel Ortega in response to a 2018 social uprising against corruption and human rights abuses. Against this backdrop, a team of four journalists with a hunger for in-depth journalism took steps to hold power to account and tell stories in innovative ways.

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Refusing to Be Silenced

  • ICFJ
  • Sharon Moshavi

Today, 71 percent of people live in countries that are considered autocratic. That’s up from 48 percent just a decade ago. In the most oppressive autocracies, freedom of expression, freedom of association, free and fair elections and other democratic values are absent. In others, they may be present in part but insufficient.

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Measuring Journalism’s Impact From Exile

  • IJNet, NEMO
  • Sudeshna Chanda

Tracking impacts is especially critical for exiled media outlets due to the distance they operate from their target audiences and home countries. While there are several analytics tools to measure different aspects of your work, it can often be overwhelming to decide which tools to use. Here’s how to consider what tools to use for measuring impact for exiled journalists.

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