JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

How can the media development community support exiled media outlets to survive and continue their work? By asking this question, this report aims to contribute to a shared understanding of the issues exiled media outlets face, but also highlight strategies they are deploying to overcome challenges.

Online abuse stifles freedom of expression, undermines equity and inclusion, and threatens livelihoods. In the United States and around the world, it has become a major occupational hazard, affecting everyone from scientists and academics to election officials and journalists.

When Russia imposed harsh laws on reporters covering its invasion of Ukraine, dozens fled. But physical distance doesn’t always keep exiled journalists safe. The American journalist Liam Scott met some of them in Berlin. Watch his full video report on security for Russian journalists in exile here.

In the first two months of 2024, the Russian parliament has approved new laws ramping up pressure on journalists and public figures critical of the war on Ukraine. The new laws were adopted two years after the enactment of wartime censorship in Russia, which forced many independent journalists to flee.

The proportion of people avoiding news content is alarmingly high. That has implications for news organizations seeking to grow, engage, and inform audiences. That, in turn, limits the ability of those titles to hold power to account.

The newly published “Press Freedom in Europe: Time to turn the Tide” report highlights the persistent use of spyware technology to surveil media actors, jeopardising both media freedom and the digital security of journalists.

Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, unanimously approved a bill banning advertising on publications by “foreign agents”, a designation authorities have given to anti-Kremlin politicians, activists and media.

In an interview with Le Monde, the Russian exiled journalist and opponent of the Putin regime talks about her work in Ukraine documenting the abuses committed by Russian forces and her hopes for the future of her country

With 29 journalists currently imprisoned, and 280 journalists and media organisations proclaimed “foreign agents”, Russia sits almost at the bottom of the Press Freedom Index. Even for those in exile, the danger remains.

The death of Aleksei A. Navalny in a Russian prison has been a blow to an opposition movement in which he was the figurehead. But it has also raised hopes of a united front against President Vladimir V. Putin.

More than 20 percent of the world’s national governments have reached beyond their borders since 2014 to forcibly silence exiled political activists, journalists, former regime insiders, and members of ethnic or religious minorities.

Publications like The Insider are caught between state censorship and hostile platform dynamics.

In exile, once-profitable independent Russian media outlets have been severed from what had been their main base of subscribers and advertisers, who are forbidden from supporting them. Their business models are no longer viable.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, there have been numerous scandals related to the surveillance of Russians abroad by Moscow’s intelligence services and alleged Russian spies working in foreign countries.

Exiled Russian journalists, countering Kremlin control abroad, face a lot of risks and funding challenges. Navigating exile, they strive to keep Russian journalism alive.

In 2024, AI’s disruption intensifies globally. As content creation and distribution undergo transformation while more than 40 critical elections are due in 2024 and wars continue to rage in Europe and the Middle East, journalists must reassess their role.

The CPJ’s 2023 prison census highlights China, Myanmar, Belarus, Russia, Vietnam, Iran and Israel as leading jailers, with 320 journalists globally. This report exposes harsh realities, emphasizing the urgent need for global attention to protect press freedom.