JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism 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.

The team of the revolutionary newspaper Enab Baladi has returned to Syria. Why it is important to show a presence on the ground now is explained by co-founder Kholoud Helmi.

On a typical evening in the heart of Paris, Taha Siddiqui can be found at his bar, greeting customers and pouring drinks. During busy nights, he’s organizing events there, with an Afghan poet reading her work, anti-war Russian musicians in a punk band, or a director sharing their documentary — all, like him, finding refuge in France. But long before he became a bar owner, Siddiqui was one of Pakistan’s most high-profile investigative journalists, determined to expose corruption and government abuses. In 2018, he fled to Paris, where he has lived in exile ever since.

The removal from the air of a second American comedian since President Donald Trump was elected in the United States should send chills down the spine of every journalist who worked in Moscow in the early 2000s. That was how President Vladimir Putin began consolidating his power — by attacking mainstream media, starting with television and, notably, TV comedians.

Having previously exposed abuses such as illegal mining and drug trafficking as a reporter for El Universal, Joseph Poliszuk has since led a trailblazing and courageous team as co-founder of Venezuela’s pioneering investigative journalism outlet Armando.info.

In 2015, over a million people from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq sought safety in Germany, including journalists. This movement reshaped politics, society, and journalism, raising new challenges. The latest “Bonjourno” podcast episode explores the experiences and challenges of exile journalism in this context.

With all civil liberties stripped away in Nicaragua, independent journalism in exile has become the last stronghold of freedom to investigate and report the truth. Earlier this month, for International Journalists’ Day (September 8), we shared a special feature on Nicaraguan journalism that has resisted and overcome censorship in Nicaragua for more than seven years.

In Kyrgyzstan, authorities are no longer just reacting to stories — they are trying to stop them before they are told, dismantling entire newsrooms and effectively criminalizing journalism. This week, four former employees of Kyrgyzstan’s leading investigative newsroom, Kloop, went on trial in Bishkek, accused of conspiring to “incite mass unrest.”

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?

In 2018, the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) ushered in an era of reform, freeing exiled media and releasing imprisoned journalists. Yet the hope that these measures promised a renaissance for journalism was short-lived. Since the outbreak of conflict in Tigray in 2020, the environment has sharply deteriorated.

How the “Journalists in Exile” program strengthens press freedom: Nazeeha Saeed explains why independent journalism should not be taken for granted. Nazeeha Saeed has lived in exile since 2016—first in Paris, now in Berlin. In her home country of Bahrain, she could no longer work as a journalist.

For fourteen years, the organization operated in secrecy and exile. Team members risked their lives daily, working under bombardment and surveillance, and facing the constant threat of arrest. Three colleagues remain forcibly disappeared to this day — their absence a painful reminder of the price paid for pursuing truth under the former regime.

Iranian authorities have carried out a wave of arrests and multiple executions of people suspected of links to Israeli intelligence agencies, in the wake of the recent war between the two countries. Analysts view these tactics as part of a broader strategy to silence dissent and intimidate exiled media workers.

The systematic and relentless persecution orchestrated by the Ortega-Murillo regime has led to the closure, confiscation, and expulsion of hundreds of independent media outlets and journalists from the country. For many, exile has become the only way to escape censorship, threats, and physical attacks – and to continue reporting.

After fleeing persecution by Daniel Ortega’s regime, seven Nicaraguan journalists exiled in Costa Rica have been unable to renew their identification documents: Nicaragua refuses them, and Costa Rica has yet to fully recognize them. They are not locked in a terminal, but they have no homeland.

For over four decades, Persian-language media in exile have played an influential, often contentious role in shaping public discourse about Iran. Emerging in response to the silencing of dissent and the monopolization of narratives by the Islamic Republic, these media outlets created a parallel space of dialogue and imagination.

Lucía Pineda Ubau is the director of the news channel 100% Noticias and has been living in exile in Costa Rica since 2019. Her homeland, Nicaragua, has been under repressive rule since 2007, when President Daniel Ortega started systematically building an autocratic government, including pressuring political opponents who were increasingly criticizing him.

In this DJV-podcast episode, host Sascha Fobbe speaks with Heba Alkadri and Ahmad Shihabi about the challenges journalists with migration backgrounds face. They discuss learning German, pursuing journalism, and representing their communities. Both share their experiences from Syria, the impact of Assad’s fall, and struggles tied to refugee policies in Germany.