Empowering Journalists in Crisis

Dear friends and colleagues,

Last year brought new challenges to the already fragile environment of independent media and displaced journalists. In hub countries such as Germany, funding crises deepened, precarity increased, and humanitarian visas and legal status became increasingly insecure. At the same time, joint efforts by civil society and media organizations showed the strength of collaboration, enabling impactful investigations, countering disinformation, and helping journalists at risk continue their vital work in exile.

In this newsletter, we reflect on the most urgent challenges facing independent and exiled media, share updates on our organisation’s evolution, new programmes, and outline priorities for 2026.

From Crisis to New Opportunities?

Authoritarian trends, disinformation, censorship, and increasing reliance on Big Tech platforms are reshaping the global media landscape. The U.S. funding freeze led to a sharp decline in financial support for independent newsrooms and exiled journalists. According to the latest surveys and our own data, major Belarusian and Russian newsrooms lost between 10 and 30 percent of their income; in some cases, losses reached up to 50 percent. These cuts led to staff reductions, layoffs, and the suspension of projects and media products. Investment in technology, cybersecurity and in adapting distribution channels to censorship and blocking was reduced to a minimum or stopped altogether. 

Germany’s change of government in 2025 further weakened support for press freedom and funding for independent media. Budget cuts affected development programmes and reduced financial support for exiled newsrooms. At the same time, tighter humanitarian visa procedures led to the de facto rejection of many applications, leaving protection largely limited to a few high-profile cases, while less visible media workers face severely restricted access. 

Within a new consortium, we are exchanging best practices for navigating the crisis, exploring new monetization opportunities, providing consultancy, and jointly advancing advocacy efforts through meetings and campaigns in Germany and at the EU level.

Transforming Our Work

Over the past year, we evaluated our initial capacity-building and fellowship programmes and concluded a major transition phase. We are grateful for the support of our advisors and partners, in particular Coopera e.V., with whom we co-hosted the first Hub project and collaborated on multiple support programmes for journalists at risk and decolonial media initiatives.

Within the new consortium, we moved our Exile Media Hub Berlin to a smaller space in Berlin and now offer fellowships to displaced newsrooms, investigative journalists, fact-checkers and collaborative projects working both in-country and in exile. After two years of behind-the-scenes work, we redesigned our webpage and launched Linkedin channel for the announcements and publications from our programmes. We hosted panel talks, trainings, and lauched a series of networking events in Berlin.

However, while last year brought crisis, cuts, and loss, it also created space for change. Reflecting on lessons from our intensive training and support programmes in 2023–2024 helped us rethink internal structures, relaunch our programme for exiled media, reactivate and expand our network through new collaborations and events, and strengthen advocacy together with new partners and displaced journalists themselves. We also began developing new, sustainable solutions on visa issues with partners from other EU countries.

Exile Media Hub Berlin within the New Consortium

The Exile Media Hub remains one of jinn’s flagship programmes, providing back-office and support infrastructure for exiled newsrooms and displaced journalists based in Berlin. The Hub combines training and networking events, tailored consultancy, and advocacy with peer-to-peer learning on investigative and collaborative media projects, digital technologies, and fact-checking, with a particular focus on Foreign Malign Influence and Interference.

At the end of 2025, our Hub joined a consortium of six European CSOs to provide funding, strengthen capacities in monetisation, and further advance exiled media from Belarus and Russia. Through this collaboration, partners share best practices in supporting exiled newsrooms and jointly develop new solutions on humanitarian visas, sustainable monetisation tools, and coordinated advocacy at EU level.

Beyond project-based activities, jinn also provides consultancy to media organisations from other regions, including Azerbaijan, with a limited number of pro bono consultations. For consultation requests, please contact us via email team@jinn-media.org

Survey: Exiled Media in Crisis

We are launching a survey on media models and monetisation practices of exiled newsrooms following the funding crisis. Founders and managers are invited to contribute. Please fill in the form via the link.

Advocating for At-Risk Journalsits

Advocacy remained a central part of our work. Through campaigns in the spring and an open letter published in the autumn 2025, we worked in close collaboration with media organisations and displaced journalists to urge the German government to continue supporting independent newsrooms; safeguard humanitarian visas for at-risk media workers worldwide; intensify diplomatic efforts to defend press freedom and secure the release of political prisoners; allocate resources to counter Russian disinformation and interference; and develop communication channels with major technology platforms to better protect press freedom and exiled media online.

Without stable funding and legal protection, many outlets risk collapse, silencing vital voices from conflict zones and authoritarian states. Following initial meetings and consultations in Berlin and Brussels in 2025, we will continue engaging with decision-makers in Germany and the EU while amplifying the voices of newsrooms in danger and journalists in need.

What's Next?

In 2026, we will continue supporting collaborative projects and exiled newsrooms through funding and consulting, providing fellowships to investigative journalists. We are grateful that our network is growing and that the new European consortium creates valuable space to share best practices across borders and develop new ideas together. Thank you for your support and active participation in our programmes!

Follow us on LinkedIn to stay informed about the survey research and the toolkit, upcoming networking events, open calls for training and fellowships, and other opportunities.

The jinn team wishes you a meaningful and hopeful New Year. We look forward to seeing you soon – online, in Berlin, or in Perugia!

Team jinn