In 2023, Mitiku Nemera, an Ethiopian journalist, moved to the United States from Ethiopia to work as an international broadcaster for Voice of America (VOA)’s Horn of Africa Service. Less than two years later, his career was abruptly interrupted.
In March 2025, an executive order dismantled the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the government-funded agency overseeing VOA. Nemera was one of approximately 600 VOA journalists and support staff on contract who were first placed on administrative leave and later removed from their positions entirely.
For Nemera, losing his job at VOA compounded the stress faced by many exiled journalists.
“I just can’t wrap my head around this situation. It’s so hard to accept, and that alone is causing me a lot of mental and emotional stress,” he said. “Especially since VOA was shut down, there hasn’t been a single day when I haven’t felt stressed.”
Exiled journalists like Nemera often struggle to navigate mental health while facing challenges presented by language barriers, burnout, and even Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Some, like Nemera, also face an identity crisis resulting from a sudden loss of employment in the journalism industry, causing them to lose their professional identity, audiences, and the newsroom communities that shaped their daily lives.
Being in exile can easily lead to burnout, said Matt Kasper, director of Meydan TV, an Azerbaijani media outlet in exile. “I think burnout comes as a result of just the stress of exile itself,” he said.
Kasper, who also represents Meydan TV at the Network of Exiled Media Outlets (NEMO), a community of six exiled media outlets with the shared mission to strengthen exiled media globally, said that because journalists have often experienced arrests, harassment by security forces, and other traumatic incidents, many also experience PTSD.
“There is also a profound psychological toll, including symptoms consistent with PTSD, resulting from prolonged exposure to highly disturbing material,” Kasper said. “Compounding this is the persistent pressure of coordinated attacks on social media — [which Meydan TV has experienced through] both broad campaigns directed at our media outlet and targeted harassment aimed at individual journalists.”
Cinthia Membreño, a Nicaraguan-born exiled journalist who serves as NEMO’s Coordinator, said that many exiled journalists, including those working with NEMO, see mental health challenges affect their ability to pitch stories and remain active in journalism.
“Burnout often leads to hopelessness and a loss of perspective. When you’re exhausted and struggling just to get out of bed, it’s hard to focus on reporting or come up with new story ideas,” Membreño said. “Many journalists also need to distance themselves from events in their home countries, and when you’re mentally drained and depressed, that becomes even harder.”
This is an experience Nemera knows personally, especially as he has been forced to find new work in the transportation sector.
“What has been difficult for my family and for me is doing a job I never knew after leaving journalism,” he said. “I am working as a taxi driver. It is hard for me. For example, when I drive customers and pass by my old [VOA] office building, it affects me mentally.”
Kasper identified the biggest gap in support for exiled journalists as not the lack of programs to help them, but the lack of time and energy that exiled journalists have to access the support they need.
Kasper, who is based in Germany, said there are many services available across Germany that are funded by the government and other organizations. But language barriers remain a major obstacle because access often depends on which languages the services are offered in.
Nemera confirmed that language barriers remain one of his biggest obstacles in the U.S.
“English is the working language in this country. However, the languages I used in my work were Ethiopian languages – either Amharic or Afaan Oromo. When I changed jobs and began communicating with my clients only in English, I came to understand just how challenging the language barrier can be,” he said.
High-quality mental health support is another barrier, Kasper added, citing the need for well-trained psychologists who understand the unique pressures of both exile and journalism. Without that expertise, some professionals may feel overwhelmed or provide unhelpful advice.
Within NEMO’s network of exiled media organizations, community support has become one of the most effective tools for helping exiled journalists navigate mental health challenges, Membreño said.
Membreño explained that for exiled journalists, coping with mental health requires staying connected through friendships and professional networks, as well as building open, supportive environments for mental health conversations.
Exiled newsrooms also have an important role to play when it comes to prioritizing their employee’s wellbeing, she said.
“Before joining NEMO, I worked with the exiled Nicaraguan newsroom Confidencial in Costa Rica, where management created a wellness program that let journalists choose activities that supported their well‑being – from gym memberships and nature biking to massages or acupuncture. It was a collaborative effort between editors and reporters, and it showed that mental health support can go far beyond traditional therapy,” she said.
For journalists in exile, Membreño and Kasper offered the following pieces of advice:
- Be patient with language skills. Integration into national media often requires advanced language proficiency, which can take significant time and effort. “If you want to integrate and you want to work in a national newspaper [in the Netherlands], you have to have C1–C2 level of Dutch, which is really hard,” Membreño noted.
- Use peer networks for mental‑health guidance. Membreño highlighted that the NEMO network functions as a supportive “pool of friends,” where members share resources, psychologists, and coping strategies. Forming peer groups with other exiled journalists in your country, either in-person or virtually, can serve a similar purpose.
- Ask newsrooms for structured support. Kasper emphasized the importance of organizational measures such as access to trauma‑trained psychologists, annual well‑being surveys, fair workload distribution, and language classes.
- Recognize rising mental‑health challenges—but also growing awareness. Both Membreño and Kasper observed that while mental‑health problems among exiled journalists are increasing, so too is the willingness to address them. “There is also more awareness now, and more willingness from journalists, funders, and organizations to take these issues seriously and provide real support,” Kasper said.
Tags: exiled journalism