JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

“A blogger and journalist from Russia. Left the country due to persecution for anti-war articles. Received political asylum in France. I write about my new life.”

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.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warns of Russia’s growing use of in absentia convictions against exiled Russian journalists and foreign media professionals. This repressive legal tactic is used to intimidate journalists, block their return to Russia and pressure their relatives,  and has become commonplace since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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.

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.

Defending trustworthy news means knowing how to counter the propaganda tactics that oppose reliable reporting to further ideological goals. To this end, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has published a new report compiling all the content from The Propaganda Monitor, a website dedicated to exposing the way propaganda and disinformation operate so they can be tackled.

A new Russian law – which came into effect in September – punishes online searches for what the government labels ‘extremist content’. But while the Kremlin has published a list of more than 5,000 banned websites, there’s still little clarity surrounding the law’s implementation and what makes the designated content ‘extremist’.

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?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently gave an interview to the Russian magazine Expert about the state of the country’s media following nearly three-and-a-half years of full-scale war. Peskov said that Russia is currently experiencing “a time of wartime censorship — unprecedented for our country.”

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.

“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.

In the article, journalist Nikita Sologub shares how independent media like Mediazona continue reporting in Russia despite mounting repression. Founded to expose abuses in the Russian prison system, Mediazona has operated for over a decade, even as press freedom has deteriorated and the state increasingly targets dissenting voices.

At the 2025 International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Nick Slater spoke with Oleg Grigorenko, Editor-in-Chief of exiled Russian outlet 7×7 Horizontal Media, about how they’re using AI to fight news fatigue and reach Russian audiences with vital, independent reporting.

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.

This report explores tools, techniques, and legal strategies to erase digital footprints and create a new, lawful identity. Drawing on real-world cases, privacy software, and legal frameworks, it offers a practical guide for journalists, whistleblowers, and dissidents seeking to avoid surveillance.

This guide has been produced with the support of UNESCO, thanks to its Global Media Defence Fund, to assist journalists – and other information professionals – when working with whistleblowers. It provides an accessible breakdown of the applicable legal framework, details the existing protections – and their limits – and offers practical advice on assessing and managing the risks involved in publicising public interest alerts.

Claire Murphy reports on the plight of Russian journalist Lilia Yapparova, who fled to Latvia after the Kremlin’s crackdown on independent media. Yapparova, along with hundreds of other Russian journalists, has found refuge in Latvia, a country that offers crucial support through organizations like Media Hub Riga.