JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

In 2024, less than 8% of the world’s population lived in places with “good” or “satisfactory” press freedom. Journalists are being censored, banned, prosecuted, jailed, or exiled, while public funding for independent media continues to decline. In this increasingly hostile landscape, the JX Fund has spent the past three years building a targeted and need-based support system for exiled media – to keep critical reporting alive where it is most at risk.

• 85 EXILED MEDIA: Since April 2022, the JX Fund has supported 85 exiled media outlets from Afghanistan, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine with financial or structural aid.
• 132 GRANTS: A total of 132 grants have been awarded to exiled media outlets with journalists operating in 25 countries.
• 36 PROJECTS: The JX Fund has implemented 36 projects targeting different needs of both exiled media outlets and freelance journalists in exile.

During the past three years, our understanding of the challenges and needs of different exiled media landscapes – which informs the continuous evaluation and further development of our program – has deepened.

Below, we outline five key takeaways:

1. DIFFERENT PHASES OF EXILE REQUIRE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SUPPORT

Exiled media face different challenges depending on the stage of their transition. In a first phase of arrival, rebuilding both personal lives and media operations is crucial, requiring support for legal structures, new distribution channels, and production infrastructure. In the second phase, ongoing challenges become more pressing – such as circumventing blockages and repressive laws, adapting audience strategies, and developing sustainable revenue models, especially given that monetization in home countries is often impossible for media operating from exile. The recent freeze in U.S. public funding for media support has further exacerbated this already precarious situation, underscoring the need for continued and even increased support.

Here are some examples of how we’ve helped exiled media outlets to get back on their feet:

• With Shpargalka.info and the Legal Navigator, we have published guidelines to help journalists navigate the complex legal processes of establishing media outlets in exile, ensuring regulatory compliance and editorial security.
• Together with Journalists in Need Network (JINN), n-ost, and Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT), we have supported the creation of multiple co-working and co-production spaces, providing safe and collaborative hubs for journalists.
• Through several media incubator programs, implemented jointly with Correctiv, JINN, European Center for Media Freedom (ECPMF), and n-ost, we have helped new media projects gain a foothold by offering training, funding, and networking opportunities.

2. IN-DEPTH RESEARCH DRIVES RESPONSIVE MEDIA SUPPORT

A core pillar of our work is understanding the evolving realities of exiled journalism through systematic data collection and analysis. In collaboration with The Fix Research & Advisory, we have conducted in-depth studies examining the exiled media landscapes across different regions. This data-driven research forms the foundation for the ongoing evaluation of our different country programs.

Here are our latest studies on exiled media from Afghanistan, Belarus, and Russia:

• Afghanistan (July 2024): Afghan Exiled Media Since the Taliban Takeover documents how exiled media from Afghanistan have adapted under the extreme repression of the Taliban regime.
• Belarus (March 2024): Silenced but Resilient: Belarusian Media Since the Revolution of 2020 examines the development of the exiled Belarusian media landscape after 2020.
• Russia (September 2024): Locking Down the Windows: A New Phase in the Fight for Press Freedom in Russia analyzes Russia’s escalating digital censorship and its impact on independent journalism in exile.

Additionally, we have published five comprehensive Country Profiles on the exiled media landscapes of Afghanistan, Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, and Syria. These overviews provide essential statistical data on the sociopolitical context and media sectors of the respective country, figures on audience reach of selected exiled media outlets, and expert commentaries on current challenges and needs.

Please visit our newsroom if you want to learn more about our studies and research.

3. MEDIA DIVERSITY IS A DEMOCRATIC NECESSITY

The diversity of exiled media landscapes is central to ensuring access to a broad spectrum of perspectives – particularly in contexts where state-controlled narratives dominate. Across our Country Profiles, this diversity becomes visible: large international newsrooms and small local outlets, TV and radio stations, investigative journalism alongside sports coverage, environmental reporting, and in-depth sociopolitical longreads. This plurality is not incidental – it is essential for sustaining democratic discourse and rebuilding fragmented public spheres from exile. Our support is aimed at protecting and strengthening this diversity where pluralism has been forcibly dismantled.

In addition to financial and structural aid, we document and amplify the breadth of actors, formats, and stories on our platform journalism-in-exile.org, which brings together articles, studies, and reports on exile journalism worldwide. This growing archive contributes to a more nuanced, evidence-based understanding of the field – highlighting not only its risks and challenges, but also the innovation, collaboration, and agency that shape journalism in exile across regions.

Explore the full archive at journalism-in-exile.org.

4. MEDIA ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS CRUCIAL FOR RESILIENCE

In the face of declining media funding, independent outlets are under growing pressure to develop sustainable business models. For exiled media, this challenge is compounded by the need to operate in new and often changing legal, financial, and technological environments – often while navigating the fallout of censorship, digital repression, and blocked access to home-country audiences. Adapting formerly successful approaches to new contexts requires not only innovation, but also the time and resources to plan beyond crisis mode.

By fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, we support independent media in moving beyond crisis mode and towards self-sustaining structures, reducing their dependence on donor funding.

• With our media entrepreneurship grants and through individual consulting, we help exiled media explore alternative revenue streams, new technological solutions and the development of sustainable business models.
• In our strategy workshops, guided by experienced trainers, exiled media outlets were given the time and space to focus on various aspects of their strategic development, such as audience strategy, team building, financial sustainability, and digital security.

A detailed overview of our project clusters is available at jx-fund.org/programs.

5. JOURNALISM IN EXILE RELIES ON TRANSNATIONAL EXCHANGE

Robust networks are key to both survival and innovation in exile. The JX Fund’s approach to community-building focuses on two levels: facilitating peer-to-peer exchange within and across exiled media communities, and fostering international exchange on the current developments and needs of exiled journalism.

• The Klebnikov Fellowship Program, developed with Columbia Journalism School and the Harriman Institute, fosters exchange between exiled Belarusian and Russian journalists and leading U.S. media professionals.
• In a collaboration with Vertical52, the JX Fund provided exiled media with access to high-resolution satellite data and the tools necessary for complex analysis. By offering satellite and radar data, the project facilitated investigative research, helping exiled media to continue to provide independent information and counter government propaganda and disinformation.

At a systemic level, the JX Fund acts as a connective hub linking media professionals, researchers, funders, and policy actors in a growing global conversation around the needs and strategies of journalism in exile:

• As active members of networks such as the Hannah Arendt Initiative (HAI), Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), and Forum Medien und Entwicklung (FOME), we work to ensure that exiled journalism remains visible, connected, and heard in international debates.
• By participating in conferences such as the International Journalism Festival and the Exile Media Forum, as well as in numerous expert roundtables and background conversations, we aim to actively contribute to an international discourse on exile journalism.

In fragmented and often hostile media ecosystems, strong networks are a structural necessity. Collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and solidarity across borders remain critical to protecting independent journalism in exile under threat.

SUPPORTING EXILED MEDIA IS A COLLECTIVE EFFORT

We couldn’t do our work without the massive support of our partners, supporters and experts.

Our thanks go to our implementing partners

• Centre for Media Studies at Stockholm School of Economics,
• Columbia Journalism School / Harriman Institute,
• Correctiv,
• European Center for Media Freedom (ECPMF),
• Journalists in Need Network (JINN)
• Mass Media Defence Center (MMDC),
• Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT),
• n-ost,
• The Fix,
• Vertical52.

Our work is also made possible by the generous support of our donors

• Alfred Töpfer Foundation,
• Bundesverband Deutscher Anzeigenblätter,
• Deutsche Postcode Lotterie,
• Deutsche Telekom Foundation,
• ERSTE Foundation,
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,
• German Minister of State for Culture and the Media,
• Handelsblatt Media Group,
• King Baudouin Foundation,
• MacArthur Foundation,
• Mercator Foundation,
• Open Society Foundation,
• Press Freedom Defence Fund,
• Reporter Without Borders,
• Robert Bosch Foundation,
• Rudolf Augstein Foundation,
• ZEIT Foundation,
• Verdi,

and the many individual donors.

We thank our founders and shareholders

• Reporters Without Borders,
• Rudolf Augstein Foundation,
• Schöpflin Foundation.

Without your initiative and conduct, we wouldn’t be here.

And, most of all, we thank the exiled media outlets that are brave enough to carry on their work under the most difficult circumstances.