South-to-South Collaboration in the Media Domain

Growing up in Uzbekistan, I partook in several US-funded programs that aimed to promote democracy. Programs that championed values like freedom of speech, equality, and human rights. Back then, these ideals were presented as universal, aspirational, and worth striving toward. It is particularly strange to now witness the US not just stepping back from those principles, but becoming a flagship in assault on them. The country that once exported the rhetoric of democracy and human dignity is now mired in a crisis of values, where freedom of expression, gender equality, and minority rights are under attack. All masks have slipped (and Musk too), revealing the uncomfortable fragility of values.

As the US is no longer interested in backing democracy and supporting critical media in Central Asia, independent outlets already hanging on by a thread are now under even more pressure. State repressions and crackdown on journalists intensify, and there is no one around to even "express deep concerns". The EU took a pragmatic approach, while repressive regimes only benefit from the blind eye and a free-for-all.

This moment presents two interconnected problems

(1) First, independent media outlets face existential threats across the region. With laws targeting "fake news", harassment and arrests of journalists, shutdowns of critical outlets, and the erosion of public trust in watchdog journalism. 

(2) Second, there is a growing structural vulnerability: overdependence on Western institutions, both financial and moral, is no longer a viable long-term strategy.

What happens when the external scaffolding falls away? How can media actors adapt to this new reality?

 I argue that we must look laterally, to each other, and strengthen South-to-South collaboration in the media domain. Shared struggles must become shared strategies.

Countries across the Global South, despite their diverse contexts, share three crucial experiences:

• Navigating Media Suppression: From Kenya to Kyrgyzstan to Colombia, independent media often face politically motivated crackdowns, restrictive laws, and physical threats to journalists.

• Institutional Fragility: Weak legal protections, limited access to sustainable funding, and politicised regulatory environments are common challenges.

• External Dependency: Many media organisations have historically relied heavily on Western donors, leading to vulnerabilities when funding is cut or when "foreign influence" narratives are weaponised against them.

  
  

These parallels are not just points of sympathy—they are grounds for strategic learning and mutual empowerment.

 South-to-South collaboration offers several advantages:

• Contextual Understanding: Media actors facing similar repressive tactics understand each other’s challenges far better than partners operating from stable democratic systems.

• Relevant Solutions: Strategies that succeed in comparable environments are more likely to be adaptable and may offer more practical lessons than Western templates designed for different conditions.

• Psychological Solidarity: Beyond practical exchanges, there is immense psychological power in knowing you are not alone. As the proverb says, only a hungry person can truly understand another hungry person.

• Shared postcolonial values: From imposed borders and extractive economies to educational systems that privileged foreign knowledge, the legacies of colonialism run deep. But these shared histories also offer a foundation for solidarity.

What might South-to-South collaboration look like in practice?

1. Knowledge Exchange Networks: As a starting point, there is a need for regional collaboration. Also, journalists from Central Asia could benefit from direct exchanges with media professionals in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa, on topics like secure communications, innovative funding models, or resilience tactics.

2. Joint Training Programs: Instead of exclusively partnering with Western governments, embassies and NGOs, professionals could lead training programs tailored to "high-risk" environments in the South-to-South model.

3. Cooperative Funding Models: Crowdfunding initiatives, co-owned media platforms, and other creative approaches to raising funds could decrease reliance on traditional donors.

4. Solidarity Campaigns: Building rapid-response networks where journalists from the Global South amplify each other’s cases when repression occurs can reduce the sense of isolation and increase pressure on authoritarian governments.

5. In practical terms, South-to-South collaboration may appear less threatening to the repressive regimes, at least at the initial stages, allowing for momentum to be gained.

The U.S. withdrawal from civil society support in Central Asia is deeply regrettable. But it also forces a necessary paradigm shift and creative thinking. If independent media is to survive and even thrive in increasingly hostile environments, it must shift from dependency to solidarity.

South-to-South collaboration offers a path not just for survival, but for renewal.

Cover photo: PETE KIEHART / THE NEW YORK TIMES