JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

Five years into Myanmar’s civil war, the journalists covering it are running out of money. After the 2021 coup wiped out domestic revenue, exiled newsrooms in Thailand became dependent on foreign aid — now slashed. Today, founders drive taxis, reporters run food stalls, and a million views on Facebook earns less than $50. A crisis is quietly silencing independent coverage of one of Asia’s bloodiest conflicts.

Press freedom experts and a UN special rapporteur have warned that authoritarian governments continue to misuse Interpol mechanisms to target journalists living in exile, despite reforms aimed at preventing politically motivated cases. Several experts point to alleged abuses of Interpol mechanisms, particularly Red Notices and travel document alerts, which they said can severely restrict journalists’ movement and daily lives.

Freedom for Eurasia strongly condemns the defamation lawsuit brought by Gadzhi Gadzhiev against Natalia Sadykova before the courts of Ukraine — the country where Sadykova lives in exile and where her husband was assassinated.

The Association of Tibetan Journalists (ATJ), an organisation of Tibetan journalists living in exile, marked World Press Freedom Day on Saturday with the theme, “We are the custodians of our language. Let us learn, use, and promote the Tibetan language,” according to a report by Phayul.

In Belarus, remembering has become political. Exiled journalist Olga Bubich describes how documenting grief and protest can lead to arrest, as authorities tightly control both history and the present. Her Tagesspiegel essay explores a struggle over memory, truth, and who gets to record reality.

Turkey is slipping fast down the Reporters without Borders (RSF) ‘s World Press Freedom Index. The country is now ranked 159th out of 180. But while some journalists languish in prison, many more, have been forced to leave the country. Their destinations range from Greece and Switzerland to other European countries, as well as neighbouring regions such as Armenia and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Founded in 2016 by young civil society members in Azerbaijan, Abzas Media was created to report on issues that are often ignored or suppressed in state-controlled media, including corruption, misuse of public resources, and human rights violations. Independent journalism in the country has been put under severe pressure, yet Abzas Media has continued reporting from exile, driven by the belief that independent journalism is as essential as ever.

Operating largely from exile after being blocked in Belarus and disrupted by the war in Ukraine, Tribuna.com has rebuilt itself as a global, remote sports media platform. The piece shows how it adapted to displacement and political pressure by combining journalism, technology, and fan communities into a resilient, product-driven media model.

This portrait is about the media platform Amal, which is produced by refugee and exiled journalists in Germany and provides news in languages like Arabic, Persian, and Ukrainian. It shows how these journalists, often unable to work in traditional media due to language barriers, find new opportunities to continue their profession and serve migrant communities.

Paraguayan journalist Jazmín Acuña, co-founder of El Surtidor, reflects on building impactful journalism in challenging environments. She discusses how independent media navigate political pressure, engage audiences and measure real-world impact. Her insights highlight how journalists across Latin America adapt their work under constraints that often push reporters toward exile or cross-border collaboration.

Authoritarian repression is forcing civic actors out of their countries, yet the support available to continue their work from abroad remains limited and inconsistent. This analysis argues for a comprehensive, systematic framework to help relocated civil society leaders maintain influence, access funding and navigate digital and legal barriers as they work overseas.

Nastassia Rouda, director of Belarusian outlet Nasha Niva, shares how her team continues reporting from exile in Vilnius. Using creative content, humor, and social media, they stay relevant inside Belarus despite political repression and economic hardships, keeping audiences engaged and preserving free media for Belarusians across generations.

New News CN is a solo independent news outlet launched amid China’s tightening press environment. Its founder – operating largely from outside the firewall – aims to carve out an independent Chinese‑language voice, reporting on human rights struggles and censorship while navigating severe restrictions that have forced many journalists into exile or freelance work.

This Coda Story feature shares four powerful accounts of journalists forced into exile from Venezuela, Russia, Cuba and Afghanistan, showing how repression and censorship uproot reporters and reshape their work. Despite separation from home, they continue to report – adapting methods and confronting the personal costs of exile and resilience.

Myanmar‑focused outlet People’s Spring – launched in exile after the 2021 coup – has found that digital platforms can be a viable revenue source even under challenging conditions. By mid‑2025, income from Facebook, YouTube and audience membership helped cover about half its operating costs, offering a rare model of financial resilience for independent media in exile.

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) has confirmed in its 2025 activity report that it conducted overseas surveillance and disruption targeting opponents living abroad – including dissidents, exiled journalists and independent media outlets — framing these as national security measures despite concerns about intimidation, monitoring and interference in host countries.

This first‑person account follows a journalist with a disability as they build an independent media project in exile, navigating barriers to access, technology and audience engagement. It highlights how physical and structural challenges intersect with repression and displacement, offering insight into resilience, innovation and inclusion among exiled media practitioners.

An Interpol data leak, examined by Disclose and BBC, reveals how repressive regimes misuse the organization to pursue dissidents, journalists and activists living abroad. The investigation shows fabricated red notices, politicized arrest requests and cross‑border pressure that put independent voices and exiled media practitioners at risk.