The number of journalists forced into exile has been rising alarmingly because of threats, repression, and national and regional conflicts. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, only between January and June 2024, they have provided financial support to 158 journalists, with about 64 percent of them having fled their home countries or in the process of fleeing. Moreover, a United Nations report documents thousands of journalists who have fled their homelands in recent years to escape political repression and conflict.

Don't Shoot the Journalists: Migrating to Stay Alive is a timely volume that resulted from insightful presentations, conversations, and reflections at the “Extra! Extra! Don't Kill the Messenger: Migrating to Stay Alive” symposium hosted by the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication in April 2024. I had an opportunity to address that audience on journalism in exile, summarizing the situation of Venezuelan news media professionals who now work and survive as a growing diaspora.

The situation of journalists in the country where I was born and raised, Venezuela, is challenging. In April 2024, YouTube influencer Oscar Alejandro spent thirty-two hours detained and accused of terrorism and acts of hate because of a comment he made on a video while walking in Caracas at night. The arrest raised concerns about violation of freedom of expression and human rights abuse.

On April 1, 2024, senior editor of Voz Media, Orlando Avendaño, was falsely accused by the Nicolás Maduro regime on charges of “inciting hatred.” The Prosecutor's Office accused Avendaño, without evidence, of subverting order and calling for rebellion on X (formerly known as Twitter). The pros¬ecutor mentioned a tweet the journalist had written several weeks before in which he spoke of an insurrectionary spirit, alleging that opposition leader

María Corina Machado pays Avendaño as part of an operation of her politi¬cal party Vente Venezuela, and that he is part of a much larger conspiracy of assassination in association with former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe.

A complex interplay of political, economic, and social factors shapes the media landscape in Venezuela. This landscape has become unsustainable since the military cracked down on protesters and journalists after the coun-try's presidential elections of July 28, 2024, when the regime declared victory without showing evidence.