Are Foreign Correspondents A "Dying Breed"?
The high cost of maintaining foreign bureaus has led to industry-wide cutbacks that have become more pronounced as new forms of media have eaten away at newspaper and network profits. Last month's announcement by the Boston Globe that it was closing down its last three foreign bureaus is Constable's jumping-off point – she notes that there are only four U.S. newspapers (The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and The Post) that "still keep a stable of foreign correspondents."
As for television news, the record isn't much better, she writes. "In the 1980s, American TV networks each maintained about 15 foreign bureaus; today they have six or fewer."
The sad irony in this landscape is one that Constable isn't the first to highlight: "Americans' need to understand the struggles of distant peoples is greater than ever."