Nobody can get round to all the talks at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, but we did our best to tune in to as many as we could. Here's a round-up of stand-out speakers that might've flown under your radar.

🇷🇺 Meduza: Crowdfunding when it's unsafe for readers to donate

Organisation and model:Meduza is the world’s largest independent Russian-language media outlet, operating in exile. Its funding comes from reader crowdfunding, a publishing house, and an online shop for books and merchandise.

Key context:Its team and audience face relentless repression — labelled "undesirable", blocked online, and criminalised for any support. Over 60 per cent of readers are still inside Russia, where donating can mean years in prison. The newsroom must innovate to reach and fund its mission amid fear, indifference, and news avoidance.

Critical insight:In autumn 2025, an emergency crowdfunding campaign brought in 6,000 new monthly supporters, raising the total to 15,000 recurring donors. To protect supporters, purchases are disguised and not affiliated with the news brand. Meduza also provided direct security guidance to donors on avoiding digital traces. Publishing now covers around 10 per cent of expenses, with 87,000 books sold, many by banned authors.

What's next:Medusa anticipates further escalation in Russian digital repression, including more sophisticated internet shutdowns, whitelisting of state-approved websites, and VPN crackdowns. It plans to grow and monetise its international readership out of necessity, while its primary focus is sustaining independent journalism for Russians, especially those affected by repression.

We consider ourselves a bridge between those Russians who are locked up inside the country under the constant regime of repressions, and those Russians who preferred to leave the country and are striving to survive in a different environment. — Galina Timchenko, co-founder & CEO, Meduza

🇭🇺 The Fuller Project: A Hungarian warning for US media

Organisation and model:The Fuller Project is a US-based global nonprofit newsroom focused on reporting at the intersection of labour, health, technology, and the economy, with a mission to catalyse positive change for women and gender-diverse people.

Key context:Drawing on Hungary’s slide into authoritarianism under Viktor Orbán, CEO Zsuzsanna Lippai – a Hungarian-American — highlighted how independent media were systematically targeted through foreign agent laws, defamation, funding restrictions, and state media monopolies. She warned that US journalism is dangerously unprepared for similar pressures, as seen during Trump’s second term with funding freezes, anti-NGO measures, and attacks on public media.

Critical insights:Lippai embedded........

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