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.
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.
Why do exiled media outlets deserve special support in times of multiple crises? As part of the Exile Media Forum 2024, Penelope Winterhager, Managing Director of JX Fund, spoke to NDRinfo about the importance of exiled media for the civil societies in the countries of origin as well as for the global public.
In exile, journalists find it difficult to continue practicing their profession. In this article in neues deutschland (nd), six journalists living in Europe talk about their prospects. Penelope Winterhager, Managing Director of JX Fund, also gave an interview.
Significant restrictions on media and press freedoms have led to a massive rise in the numbers of exiled journalists and media workers worldwide. Increased global crises and armed conflicts, rising authoritarianism and extremism as well as the decline of press freedom make independent journalism one of the most dangerous professions.
Russian journalists who do not toe the Kremlin line live dangerously – even abroad. Despite major challenges, even in exile they do everything they can to continue informing the Russian public. We had the opportunity to tell Amnesty Magazine about our work for and with media professionals in exile.
In this report, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression focuses on journalists in exile who face a variety of physical, digital and legal threats. JX Fund is recommended as an “interesting initiative” alongside the Network of Exiled Media Organizations (NEMO).
For vox.com, Caroline Houck wrote about the state of press freedom worldwide in 2023 – and refers to JX Fund’s study on the situation of Russian media in exile.
What are the main problems exiled media professionals face and what could solutions look like? Laura Dulce Romero interviewed our Managing Director Penelope Winterhager, among others, on these and other questions for Reuters Institute.
When Russia imposed harsh laws on reporters covering its invasion of Ukraine, dozens fled. But physical distance doesn’t always keep exiled journalists safe. For Voice of America Liam Scott met our managing director Penelope Winterhager for a video interview.
Two years after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the crackdown on independent media and journalists in Russia has intensified, leading to the collapse of press freedom. Today, the vast majority of Russia’s independent journalists work in exile. This episode of “News in Depth” by SBS News Australia discusses, among others, JX Fund’s study on the situation of Russian media in exile.
On the occasion of Aleksei A. Navalnys death Anatoly Kurmanaev and Alina Lobzina wrote an article for the New York Times, in which they took a closer look at the Russian opposition in exile. In this context, they also refer to JX Fund’s study on Russian exiled media.
RadioFreeEurope / RadioLiberty devotes this article to the situation of Russian journalists in exile. In addition to interviews with Russian exiled journalists, Elizabeth Owen refers quotes the studies of JX Fund.
Authoritarian campaigns to clamp down on dissent and control the media have driven scores of journalists from many countries into exile, but the repression of a free press does not stop at the border. In their article on transnational repression Michael J. Abramowitz and Jessica White mention JX Fund as ” instrumental in providing vital resources for journalists to carry on with their work”.
The Annual Journalism Funders Gathering 2023 in New York City discussed how independent journalism can be promoted. JX Fund also spoke about its support for independent media in exile, which play an important role in closing information gaps, especially in authoritarian countries.
The pressure on media critical of the Kremlin in Russia has increased again since the beginning of the war. Hundreds of journalists have since been forced into exile. Deutschlandfunk (DLF) talks to Russian journalists in exile and representatives of media organizations about current developments in the Russian media landscape. Penelope Winterhager, managing director of JX Fund, comments on the needs of media in exile.
At the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, JX Fund discussed with journalists from Russian media in exile their current challenges. On another panel JX Fund was invited to debate the future of the Ukrainian media system. A comprehensible article by Reuters Institute summarizes the learning from the Festival.
Hundreds of Russian journalists have gone into exile to report independently on the war and the Putin regime. The media magazine ZAPP spoke with them about how to investigate from exile and how they deal with death threats.
After the outbreak of the war, the German government promised independent journalists from Russia quick, unbureaucratic admission. In the program “Medien – Cross und Quer,” Penelope Winterhager, managing director of JX Fund, talked about how the situation has developed since then.
On the BR podcast “BR24 Medien,” Polina Stretter, program director of JX Fund, spoke about the challenges faced by Russian media in exile and the successes they are nevertheless achieving.
The German government wants to support journalists who have fled Belarus and Russia and is investing large sums of money in the reconstruction of media in exile. At the same time, there are no regulated admission procedures.
With kind permission of SZ Archiv.
Many journalists who have fled Belarus and Russia would like to continue their work in Berlin. But the German bureaucracy puts obstacles in their way: Despite promises to the contrary, the admission procedures remain tough and humanitarian visas are only granted in individual cases.
The Russian war of aggression on Ukraine has made independent reporting in both countries difficult or even impossible. Now, JX Fund aims to help independent media continue their reporting from exile.
In many places, the free press is threatened by illiberal tendencies, crises and wars. Yet it is needed precisely where it is to be silenced by repression or political persecution. If necessary, media must continue working from exile.
After the Russian war of aggression and the resulting tightening of Russian media laws, the last independent media have also left Russia. JX Fund helps them to continue their work efficiently and sustainably in exile.