News & Program updates

JX Fund Seeks Director Finance & Operation

The JX Fund supports exiled media from countries where independent reporting is no longer possible and helps to maintain a diversity of voices – because without exiled media, censorship, propaganda, and disinformation prevail. To complement our team, the JX Fund is looking for a Director Finance & Operations as soon as possible.

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Comprehensive Overviews on Exiled Media Landscapes

In times of shifting geopolitics and increasing challenges for independent journalism, supporting exiled media is more crucial than ever. Our Country Profiles for Afghanistan, Belarus, Russia, and Syria provide a detailed look at these fragile yet vibrant exiled media ecosystems. Combining regional context, audience data, and nuanced insights, the profiles highlight the critical role of exiled journalism in safeguarding truth under repressive regimes.

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Defining Media in Exile: Criteria, Challenges, and Responsibilities

Whether a medium can survive in exile depends in most cases not only on whether it keeps up good work outside the country, but also on whether it is worthy of support in the eyes of large funding institutions. But who determines when a medium is worthy of support? What criteria can be used to evaluate exiled media and how can comparability be established without gray areas getting lost in the process?

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Syria

Country Profile – Context

Syrian independent media in exile emerged primarily in response to the 2011 uprising, an offshoot of the Arab Spring, and its subsequent brutal repression. Throughout this period, the sector was marked by its transition from grassroots citizen journalism to professionalized outlets. The current state of Syrian exiled media is uncertain following the collapse of the regime of the country’s dictator Bashar Al-Assad.

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Russia

Country Profile – Context

The history of Russian independent media operating in exile is at least a decade old. But the mass exodus – counting dozens of outlets and hundreds of journalists – only started after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the related crackdown on free speech. The number of media operating outside Russia has since proceeded in waves – driven by growing repressions, both administrative and physical, as well as rising digital censorship.

 

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Afghanistan

Country Profile – Context

Following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, Afghanistan witnessed an exodus of independent journalists and media outlets. This event triggered the closure of many media as well as the departure of over 30 outlets as well as scores of journalists and media managers, many of whom established new media in exile – often as spiritual successors to defunct media in Afghanistan.

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Belarus

Country Profile – Context

Following the crackdown on the independent media sector in the second half of 2021, most independent media left Belarus. It is estimated that at least 42 active independent media currently operate from exile (see definition and criteria), with at least 400 media workers who fled the country after 2020. Most of the Belarusian media in exile have found their new homes in Poland and Lithuania, from where they continue to serve Belarusian audiences.

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Report: How Civil Society Organizations Support Exiled Media

A new report by Thomson Reuters Foundation and The Fix analyzes the needs and support provided to Belarusian and Russian independent media in exile across Czechia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The report highlights assesses how the needs and challenges, as well as the support provided, have evolved for these exiled media over time.

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Adapting to Survive: How Exiled Media Lead Innovation

With the increasing monopolization of information infrastructures on one side and targeted disinformation campaigns and propaganda by authoritarian regimes on the other, facts have become lonely things. However, for many exiled media outlets, this isn’t breaking news but rather a reality they have already adapted to. The constant need to innovate in response to new circumstances has given rise to unconventional business models.

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Study: Locking Down the Windows

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.

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How Afghan Exiled Journalists Make Sure Facts are Facts

When the Taliban took power three years ago, the previously thriving Afghan media landscape collapsed. Many journalists were forced to leave the country and now work remotely. Others have stayed and continue their work despite all dangers. How do editorial teams in exile deal with the challenge of accessing sources on the ground?

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Legal Navigator: Guidelines for Setting Up Media Entities

Media are sometimes forced to set up media companies in other countries because they cannot operate in their home countries, for example due to restrictive laws. Our Legal Navigator provides an overview of the legal framework for setting up a media company in selected countries that has been reviewed by specialist lawyers.

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Study: Afghan Exiled Media Since the Taliban Takeover

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.

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Incubator Program for Exiled Afghan Media Projects

The Media Incubator Program, tailored to support exiled Afghan journalists in Germany, aims to provide comprehensive assistance in developing new media projects. The program offers training, guidance, financial assistance, and helps fostering connections with established media organizations. Three media projects by exiled Afghan journalists have been selected to participate.

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Continued Funding for the MiCT Co-Working Space

For many Russian-speaking exiled journalists, the co-working space ‘MiCT Roof’ became a safe haven in Berlin last year. The aim of the co-working space is to enable exiled media professionals to continue their work while also creating networking opportunities with German media outlets, production companies, foundations, and politics. Now, the JX Fund again supports the continuation of the project.

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Study: Belarusian Media Since the Revolution of 2020

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.

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Two Years JX Fund: Supporting Exiled Media in Countering Repression

Since its foundation, the JX Fund has supported 55 independent media in exile from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Around 1,600 media professionals in exile have benefited from this work. The JX Fund focuses on unbureaucratic and needs-oriented support to enable independent media in exile to operate sustainably.

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Survey: Media consumption of Ukrainian audiences in Germany

On behalf of the ECPMF and the JX Fund, the survey institute forsa examined the media usage behavior of Ukrainian refugees for the first time. Social media and messenger services are used most frequently, above all Telegram and YouTube. Among non-Ukrainian media, Deutsche Welle and the BBC are the most popular.

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Exile Media Forum: In spite of all adversities

At this year’s Exile Media Forum in Hamburg, exiled journalists from around the world shared their experiences and strategies for continuing their work in exile. Although the reasons they have had to go into exile are as different as the conditions in their respective countries of residence, the challenges they face are often very similar.

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Exiled Afghan journalists: A community in transit

Two years ago, the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. This has led to a systematic dismantling of civil rights and a stricter censorship of the media. More than half of the 547 media outlets that were registered in 2021 have since ceased to exist. But exiled media from Afghanistan bring a glimmer of hope. From October on, the JX Fund will start supporting Afghan media and media professionals in exile.

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Three Co-Working and Co-Production spaces for exiled journalists

Berlin is becoming an important place for independent media in exile. These media and journalists need places where they can continue their work efficiently and in exchange with colleagues. With the support of the JX Fund, three co-working and co-production spaces are now being created in Berlin.

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Study: Needs of Russian Media in Exile for 2023

Together with The Fix and the Centre for Media Studies of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, the JX Fund has published the study “Rebuilding Russian Media in Exile – Successes, Challenges and the Road Ahead,” which investigates the current state of Russian media in exile.

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A year in review: Journalism is not just a job

The JX Fund was founded in April 2022 to help journalists successfully continue their work in exile after fleeing war and crisis zones. Since then, 44 exiled media in eight countries have been supported in rebuilding their editorial structures in exile.

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Cheat sheet for media workers under threat

Russia has adopted a series of draconian anti-press laws. In order to help threatened media professionals in Russia to choose a country of exile suitable for them and their needs, the JX Fund and Mass Media Defence Center from Voronezh have now launched the information platform Shpargalka.

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JX Fund awards grants to media in exile

Since its founding, the JX Fund has supported over 15 media outlets in exile in over 7 different countries, as well as facilitating the expansion of a media hub in Georgia. In the most recent round of funding, a total of 7 Russian and Belarusian media outlets were selected , including two prominent investigative journalism projects.

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JX Fund supports first media projects

Reporters without Borders (RSF) together with the Rudolf Augstein Foundation and the Schöpflin Foundation launch the JX Fund for journalism in exile, which is intended to help media workers quickly and flexibly, to enable them to continue their work immediately after they have fled war and crisis zones.

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