In the second edition of our new interview series “Reinventing Revenue,” Cuban exiled outlet elTOQUE talks about about how utility-driven journalism, data tools, and audience trust can evolve into sustainable revenue models, and how to maintain a “church–state” separation between commercial and editorial operations.
How do exiled media outlets survive when traditional media business models no longer work? Our new interview series “Reinventing Revenue” explores how independent journalism adapts through new formats, services, and community spaces. In our first edition, Belarusian exiled outlet Reform.news explains why its next project is a bar in Warsaw.
To better understand the complexities of impact and the perspectives shaping the community, we draw on insights from conversations at the Exile Media Forum 2025 and the International Journalism Festival 2026. Together with representatives of exiled media from all over the world, we moved beyond a narrow focus on reach toward a broader perspective: one in which impact is not a single outcome, but a set of interconnected dimensions.
By now it is clear that the shock of the 2025 US funding cuts has not faded. Its effects continue to shape independent and exiled media in 2026.
That leaves organizations like ours with an uncomfortable question: How do we distribute less funding without shrinking the field to a handful of surviving exiled media outlets and risking a quiet desertification of exiled media landscapes?
A botnet that spreads false claims across multiple languages, fake copy accounts mimicking top Western media, AI-trained on manipulated datasets to twist narratives – these are just a few of the extraordinary manipulation efforts uncovered by exiled media outlets.
The past year once again shook the Russian independent media sector in exile. Russian authorities tightened censorship, expanded surveillance, and criminalized the consumption of independent media content. Despite this hostile environment and a sector-wide financial crisis, independent media outlets in exile held their ground and even expanded their reach across multiple channels.
How does the Kremlin infiltrate Europe’s information sphere to sway elections and shape public opinion? Where did fugitive Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek vanish to? Why are many of China’s cities sinking? Without exiled media, you probably wouldn’t know.
The accelerating decline of democratic structures is triggering a global exodus of journalists from authoritarian countries. Exiled media are now, in many regions, the last institutions capable of documenting increasing autocratization and making democratic backsliding visible.
In times of shifting geopolitics and increasing challenges for independent journalism, supporting exiled media is more crucial than ever. Combining regional context, audience data, and nuanced insights, our country profiles on Afghanistan, Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria highlight the critical role of exiled journalism in safeguarding truth under repressive regimes.
At the 2026 Global Media Forum, four journalists supported by the Hannah Arendt Initiative shared first-hand accounts of censorship, threats, displacement and survival. Coming from Ukraine, Nicaragua, Iran, and Russia, they demonstrated that as conditions for independent journalism become increasingly hostile around the world, resilience and reinvention are as essential as professional rigor.
Information control has long been central to the Kramlin. Since Putin took power, independent journalism has faced growing repression, accelerated after the Kursk submarine disaster, the Moscow theater siege, and the Beslan school hostage crisis. Critical outlets were punished, steadily eroding Russia’s independent media. This report draws on JX-Fund’s data and research.
NEMO has published a recap of our panel at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia. Exiled media leaders from Iran, Russia, and China discussed how authoritarian governments are increasingly sharing surveillance tactics and censorship strategies – and how independent journalists are building cross-border networks to fight back.
As part of the Hannah Arendt Initiative, JX Fund joined the International Journalism Festival in Perugia to share insights on journalist safety and resilience. At the rooftop opening reception, four project spotlights highlighted lessons from global work supporting media professionals in exile, conflict zones, and crisis contexts worldwide. The Hannah Arendt Initiative gathered key insights from the evening.
Executive Director Stephanie Reuter of the Rudolf Augstein Foundation – who co-founded JX Fund with Reporters Without Borders and the Schöpflin Foundation – reflects on strengthening resilience in a fragile media landscape. She highlights support for exiled journalists through JX Fund.
In an interview with Deutschlandfunk’s radio program @mediasres, JX Fund’s Managing Director Maral Jekta discussed the current state of Russian exiled media four years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Shrinking resources, increasingly sophisticated censorship technologies, and the simultaneous criminalization of audiences are placing them under growing pressure.
In an interview with GEO+, Maral Jekta, Managing Director of JX Fund, discusses the growing challenges faced by Russian exiled media – from censorship and legal pressure to financial uncertainty. She explains how journalists continue to reach audiences inside Russia, why exile newsrooms are forced to constantly innovate, and whether independent reporting beyond the country’s borders can remain sustainable.
RSF Germany published our article on how exiled media shape international reporting in a press release.
In a guest opinion piece for Der Standard, Penelope Winterhager highlights the vital role of exiled media in resisting authoritarian regimes and defending democratic values. While autocrats invest billions in propaganda and censorship, exiled media continue to investigate, inform, and expose – often working with limited resources and under constant digital threat.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, independent Russian media have come under such intense pressure that most editorial teams have left the country. Belarusian media experienced a similar development following the crackdown on protests against Lukashenko in 2020/21. Tamina Kutscher spoke with JX fund’s founding managing director, Penelope Winterhager.
In an interview with the Journalism Funders Forum, JX Fund Managing Director Penelope Winterhager reflects on the constantly evolving needs of media in exile – from legal aid and security infrastructure to mental health resources and business strategy.
In the third episode of the OSCE’s podcast series on journalist safety, JX Fund Managing Director Penelope Winterhager discusses the challenges facing journalism in exile — and the urgent support it requires. Protecting exiled journalism means preserving a fragile lifeline of independent reporting for entire populations cut off from free media.
JX Fund’s Managing Director Penelope Winterhager spoke with the media network Voice of America about what the cessation of U.S. foreign aid means for independent (exiled) media. Due to the current freeze, news outlets around the world are scrambling to find alternative sources of funding in an attempt to continue delivering the news to their audiences and avoid shutting down.
Despite censorship, blockades and their status as “foreign agents”, Russian media in exile find creative ways to continue to reach a broad audience in Russia. Liudmila Michailowa researched for MDR how Russian media in exile keep reaching their target groups inside the country.
Exiled independent media are not a niche concern. They are a globally relevant institution at a moment when the infrastructure of accountability journalism is under threat from multiple directions simultaneously. That is why we believe this report is an important invitation for joint reflection, and why we hope it reaches well beyond the community of practitioners and funders already familiar with this work.
The past year once again shook the Russian independent media sector in exile. Russian authorities tightened censorship, expanded surveillance, and criminalized the consumption of independent media content. Despite this hostile environment and a sector-wide financial crisis, independent media outlets in exile held their ground and even expanded their reach across multiple channels.
In times of shifting geopolitics and increasing challenges for independent journalism, supporting exiled media is more crucial than ever. Combining regional context, audience data, and nuanced insights, our country profiles on Afghanistan, Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria highlight the critical role of exiled journalism in safeguarding truth under repressive regimes.
Over the past year, Russia has done more than simply refine its already deeply repressive system – it is currently in the middle of building a new model of digital censorship, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on top of its already bloated propaganda budgets to ensure its people are fully isolated from independent and objective voices. One of the Kremlin’s most important targets: Russian independent media in exile.
The Taliban takeover in 2021 has created an environment of fear and uncertainty within the Afghan media community. Many journalists have fled their homeland in search of safety and freedom. Nonetheless, Afghan journalists in exile continue to demonstrate resilience and dedication to their profession. A new study now provides unprecedented insight into the development of the Afghan exiled media landscape.
Despite many challenges, independent Belarusian media are still uniquely valued by their audiences. The study “Silenced But Resilient: Belarusian Media Since the Revolution of 2020” by JX Fund and The Fix Research and Advisory is giving an overview of Belarusian media in exile since 2020.
Since the Taliban took power in Kabul on August 15, 2021, many journalists have been forced to leave the country and go into exile. A new study by JX Fund examines the situation and needs of Afghan journalists in exile.
Independent Russian media in exile recorded a total of 38 million website visits in September 2023. The sector is diverse and evolving. A new research report by JX Fund and The Fix provides insights into the performance and needs of Russian exile media.
Our newsletter informs you about the most important developments in journalism in exile, current events and interesting publications from our network.