Exile Media Hub Berlin

Capacity building

Germany

The Exile Media Hub Berlin supports displaced journalists and exiled newsrooms by providing consultancy, back-office services, and a space for collaboration and learning. Together with local media organizations and partner hubs across the EU, we engage in advocacy, develop collaborative projects, and foster partnerships, and networking to strengthen sustainable independent media in exile.

About Exile Media Hub Berlin

The Exile Media Hub Berlin was established in 2022, following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, to support displaced journalists and exiled newsrooms from Belarus and Russia. With financial support from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), the Hub provided co-working space, a podcast studio, trainings, and consultancy to more than 50 media professionals and freelance journalists. In 2025, the Hub was relaunched in a new space as part of the European consortium Freedom Media Hub East, funded by the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office.

Today, our projects include tailored consultancy for exiled newsrooms and journalists at risk, the development and implementation of collaborative and cross-border projects, research and innovation on monetisation tools, strengthened advocacy for endangered media workers, and networking and professional exchange between media hubs in Germany and across the EU.

Scope of Work

Consulting and Coaching

We offer on-demand expert consultations, online and in Berlin, tailored to the needs of exiled media professionals and newsrooms. Our pro bono service, currently focused on Belarusian and Russian exiled media, covers fundraising and monetisation, grant writing and project management, digital and physical security, and legalisation and HR issues in Germany. Requests are matched with experienced experts from our European network. Need a consultation? Send a request with up to 3 detailed questions to team@jinn-media.org

Back-Office Support

The Hub supports individual journalists and small media teams with essential back-office services that enable sustainable operations in exile. These include administrative support, compliance oversight, IT infrastructure advice, and temporary employment solutions for grant applications and project implementation. By handling these functions, we allow media professionals to focus on their core journalistic work.

Trainings and Capacity Building

We provide practice-oriented trainings on relocating newsrooms and building sustainable structures in exile. Our programmes cover fundraising and monetisation tools, grant mapping and reporting, visa and HR management, taxation, collaborative projects, investigative and data journalism, fact-checking, and reporting on foreign information manipulation and interference. Trainings are delivered by experienced practitioners from media, civil society, and academia.

Mentorship

Our mentorship programme connects early-career and investigative journalists with experienced professionals from leading media organisations. Through one-to-one mentoring and targeted consultancy, fellows receive practical guidance, strengthen their skills, and collaborate with established outlets to publish impactful journalistic work.

Networking and Peer Learning

The Hub creates spaces for professional exchange through networking events in Berlin and online. Journalists, founders of exiled media, and stakeholders share experiences on technology, monetisation tools, collaborative practices, and advocacy, while developing joint project ideas. Follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about upcoming events.

Partnerships and Collaborative Projects

We strengthen collaboration between exiled newsrooms by supporting the joint development and implementation of capacity-building, educational, and investigative projects. Our work includes facilitating cross-border investigative reporting, data and knowledge exchange, internships and educational programmes, and cooperation between media, NGOs, researchers, and legal actors. Partnerships also form the basis for coordinated advocacy efforts at national and EU levels.

Advocacy

Advocacy is a core pillar of the Hub’s work, focused on protecting at-risk journalists and endangered media outlets. We design and implement advocacy campaigns in Germany and the EU, engage in press work and public events, and hold closed-door consultations with decision-makers. Our activities include open letters, petitions, and strategic dialogue with government institutions and platforms.

Research

In 2026, the Hub conducts research on exiled media in the aftermath of the funding crisis, examining challenges, solutions, innovation, and monetisation tools. This research combines a survey with in-depth interviews and will result in a public report and a practical toolkit for media managers and fundraisers. Representatives of exiled media are invited to participate by completing our survey.

Berlin Hub within the Consortium Free Media Hub East

The consortium project “Freedom Media Hub East” is a transregional European initiative supporting Belarusian and Russian media in exile through a comprehensive set of measures, including:

Funding for independent Belarusian and Russian media outlets in exile
Capacity building and sustainability support through trainings and tailored consultancy
Visa, relocation, and community support for journalists at risk
Advocacy at the EU level to defend press freedom
Networking events and peer-to-peer learning meetups
Research and consultancy on monetisation tools and revenue models

As part of the European Commission–funded Free Media Hub East project, led by the Prague Civil Society Centre, the consortium will distribute €2 million in grants and provide additional support through trainings, workshops, visa and legal assistance, psychological support, and networking opportunities. We are proud to work alongside partners including the Baltic Centre for Media Excellence, People in Need, Freedom House Vilnius, and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.

Through our work in Berlin and within this transregional partnership, jinn continues to support independent Belarusian and Russian media in exile while fostering new cross-border collaborations. Our goal is to amplify exiled media voices and help ensure they remain a vital source of independent information for audiences in authoritarian and conflict-affected contexts—especially at a time when Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the spread of disinformation make this work more urgent than ever.