Journalists on the frontlines and in exile share a commitment to truth Originally published on Global Voices Advox A woman journalist being interviewed. Image courtesy of ExileHub. Exile Hub is one of Global Voices’ partners in Southeast Asia, emerging in response to the 2021 coup in Myanmar, focusing on empowering journalists and human rights defenders. This edited article is republished under a content partnership agreement. Some left to survive. Others stayed to witness. Together, they ensure the story is still told.
For journalists from Myanmar, this is no longer a choice between profession and safety; it is a daily negotiation between survival and responsibility.
As the world marked World Press Freedom Day this May, the meaning of “press freedom” feels increasingly fragile. Since the political crisis in Myanmar has intensified, journalists have faced arrests, surveillance, and the systematic dismantling of independent media. For many, exile became the only way to continue their work and stay alive.
And yet, others have made the decision to remain.
Whether reporting from the frontlines or across borders, Myanmar journalists continue to amplify the voices and issues that matter from the ground. Reporting from exile Myanmar’s media landscape has undergone a dramatic collapse. Independent outlets have been shut down, licenses revoked, and journalists detained under sweeping laws.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Myanmar remains one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists. Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) continues to rank the country among the most dangerous environments for media professionals. Inside the country, reporting the truth can come at the cost of imprisonment or worse.
That is why many journalists must flee across borders to continue their work in fragmented, often precarious conditions.
“I am safe now, but I feel disconnected from the ground. Every story takes more effort, more risk,” a journalist shared their sentiment in an interview.
Exile reshapes journalism. Reporters rely on underground networks, encrypted communication, and second-hand verification. Distance complicates access, while security concerns remain ever-present.
For many, there is no newsroom, only a camera, a laptop, shared rooms, and unstable internet connections.
And yet, the work continues. Staying to report: Journalism on the frontlines While many journalists have been forced into exile, others have stayed.
Htet, a critical voices fellow and a journalist reporting from inside Myanmar, continues his work from within active conflict zones where the risks are immediate and constant.
“If we don’t report from here, the reality on the ground disappears.”
His work unfolds under extreme constraints. The threat of violence or being bombed is never far away. Reporting often requires navigating complex militarized situations and territories, surveillance, and unreliable communication networks.
Yet proximity offers something exile cannot: direct access to unfolding events, communities, and truths that might otherwise go undocumented. A journalist reporting under precarious conditions. Image courtesy of ExileHub.
Journalists inside Myanmar and those in exile remain deeply connected. Those inside provide firsthand accounts, often at great personal risk. Those in exile amplify, verify, and ensure stories reach global audiences
Mon, an exiled journalist, aged 39, now based in Mae Sot, shares, “We rely on each other. Without them, our stories don’t reach the world. Without us, some stories wouldn’t exist.”
Together, they form a distributed newsroom — one that operates across borders, under pressure, but with a shared commitment to truth. Between survival and responsibility The journalists — both those who choose to continue their work from within Myanmar and those who have been forced to leave — face structural challenges, as well as personal ones.
Mon said: “Sometimes I feel guilty for leaving. But if I stop reporting, then what was the point of everything we lost? I left my home, the life I had built. But now I don’t want to leave the story.”
Many navigate financial instability, uncertain legal status, and limited access to long-term support systems.
At a time when journalists are silenced, their voices continue to carry across borders.
Through Exile Hub’s “Only My Voice Left” campaign, journalists from Myanmar, both in exile and inside the country, share their stories in their own words. By illuminating struggles of media professionals that are often hidden, these testimonies are themselves acts of resistance. Listen to their voices here: Only My Voice Left Each voice is a reminder that behind every headline is a human story of loss, courage, and determination to continue, as one human rights defender shares: “Even if everything is taken, my voice remains.”
The future remains uncertain. Many journalists do not know when or if they will be able to return home. Others continue working in conditions that shift by the day. And yet, their commitment endures.
On World Press Freedom Day 2026, ExileHub calls for more than recognition.
We collectively call for protection for journalists at risk and sustained support for exile and in-country journalists.
Because when journalists are silenced, societies lose more than information; they lose truth, accountability, and the possibility of justice. Written by Exile Hub View original post (English)