JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

Since its foundation in March 2022, 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 was founded in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and focuses on unbureaucratic and needs-oriented support to enable independent media in exile to operate sustainably.

EXILED MEDIA AS AN ANTIDOTE
TO PROPAGANDA AND DISINFORMATION

72 percent of all people worldwide live under authoritarian rule. With the rise of authoritarian regimes, media professionals are also increasingly restricted by state control, censorship and repression. Today, it is no longer just individual journalists who are fleeing, but also media companies and even entire media landscapes that are being forced into exile.

In an age where disinformation has become a global threat, professional and independent reporting is becoming increasingly important. Independent media – even when forced into exile – act as an antidote to the disinformation campaigns of authoritarian regimes. They are essential for the provision of independent information – both for target groups in the respective countries of origin and for the global public: as exile media are mostly digital and therefore globally accessible, they can provide both civil society in their countries of origin and the global audience with access to independent information and thus counteract fake news and propaganda.

JOURNALISTIC WORK UNDER EXTREME CONDITIONS

Exile journalism is journalistic work under the most difficult conditions: in addition to the general challenges media professionals worldwide are facing currently, media professionals in exile face numerous other problems: They have to reach audiences in their country of origin, circumvent blockades, fight disinformation campaigns, maintain their own credibility and find new ways to monetize their work. Local freelancers need to be supported and retained, relatives in the country of origin need to be protected, personal traumas need to be dealt with and day-to-day business needs to be kept running. Media Managers are suddenly confronted with having to support their employees in finding accommodation or opening a bank account, while at the same time facing the challenge of keeping together an editorial team whose members in exile often no longer live in one city but are scattered across national borders.

Exiled media professionals have to build a new life for themselves while at the same time pursuing a profession that is already challenging under conventional conditions – always worried about relatives and colleagues in their country of origin who could be put in danger by their own journalistic work.

STRENGTHENING DIVERSITY:
THE JX FUND AS A HUB FOR THE
INTERNATIONAL EXILE MEDIA SCENE

The JX Fund was jointly founded in 2022 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Rudolf Augstein Foundation and the Schöpflin Foundation and is part of the Hannah Arendt Initiative. Since March 2022, the JX Fund has been supporting media professionals in exile in (re)establishing and maintaining editorial structures and promoting exiled media outlets so that they can continue to provide an audience in their home countries as well as a global public with independent information on a permanent and sustainable basis. The fund does not focus exclusively on media with a wide reach, but also supports smaller, issue-driven media in order to preserve and promote the diversity of the exiled media landscape in the long term.

In addition to fast and unbureaucratic financial support upon arrival in exile, this also includes strategic support for media creators in exile. The JX Fund provides agile and needs-oriented support wherever help is needed – always with the aim of strengthening editorial teams so that they can survive in the long term and sustainably. The JX Fund not only provides financial support, but also organizes spaces for exchange, community building and self-reflection in the form of symposia, conferences and strategy workshops, provides support with psychological and legal difficulties, and connects and links media professionals in exile with the right institutions and partners.

It acts as a hub for the international exiled media scene: the JX Fund collects and matches the offerings that already exist worldwide in order to make the best possible use of them and avoid duplication. The JX Fund only sets up its own projects where there are gaps in the offering. In addition to providing direct support to exile media professionals, the JX Fund conducts its own studies and surveys, collects and curates all relevant academic and journalistic publications on the topic of exile journalism on the platform “Journalism in Exile“– always with the aim of strengthening exile media so that they are able to counteract information deserts and disinformation in their countries of origin independently and sustainably.