STUDY
The study “Rebuilding Russian Media in Exile – Successes, Challenges and the Road Ahead” investigated the factors that have led to the formation of geographic hubs in the exile media landscape, and what challenges journalists still face in these locations.
With the outbreak of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the ensuing restrictions on press freedoms in Russia, most independent Russian media outlets have been forced to leave the country. As they continue their work in exile, they face a host of legal, financial, and organizational challenges.
TACKLING CHALLENGES
The study “Rebuilding Russian Media in Exile – Successes, Challenges and the Road Ahead” analyzed the factors that led to the cities of Amsterdam, Berlin, Tbilisi, and Riga becoming hubs for the exile media scene, and identified the challenges that exiled journalists continue to face in these cities. These range from opening a bank account and finding an apartment through to issues related to migration law, an undersupply of legal services, and the difficulties of developing new organizational structures.
COORDINATED SUPPORT FOR MEDIA OUTLETS IN EXILE
Many media outlets have managed to maintain their operations despite all these challenges. But in order to guarantee that they can continue their work in the long term, they remain dependent upon support – not only financial, but also of a strategic, legal, or psychological nature. The breadth of these challenges and the varying situations in the different countries of exile make transnational cooperation between political institutions, humanitarian aid organizations, and funders essential. It is only through pinpointing specific needs and then matching these up with appropriate services that a diverse landscape of exiled Russian media can be maintained.
Publication: November 2022
Project partners: The Fix, Centre for Media Studies at Stockholm School of Economics
The project was supported by funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).