U.S. investment in international reporting is shrinking, taking international journalists’ opportunities with it

This year’s N3Con in Bangkok was a shadow of its former self. Once attended by upwards of 300 attendees — Asia-based journalists and editors writing for American or European media — the latest conference’s attendance fell to less than half that number. Anecdotally, no journalists from Tokyo, Seoul, or Delhi were present at the event, organized by Asian American Journalists Association’s Asia chapter.

Discussions at N3Con this year — formerly about covering the fastest-growing region in the world, from the rise of China to tensions in the Sea of Japan, or protests in Taiwan and Korea – also broke from the norm. Now, they were about the dire situation for press freedom, how difficult it was to get freelance pitches commissioned, or the effects of United States funding cuts for media support in the region. Perhaps most distressingly, much time at coffee or conference happy hours were spent reminiscing about former colleagues who’ve left the region, and, in many cases, journalism itself.

With outlets like the Washington Post cutting nearly all of their foreign reporters earlier this year, and others like BBC, Reuters, and NPR slashing staff, the conference’s much smaller footprint similarly reflects just how few journalists are covering the world for major Western media. N3 speaker Eric Wishart shared a stunning fact: In China, the U.S.’s largest trading partner and geopolitical foe,there are just two foreign journalists left at the big three bureaus (the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post), due to tit-for-tat visa restrictions and staff cuts. As a freelance journalist who has covered Asia since 2015, I’ve seen every year since the pandemic began become more and more challenging. And it’s not just me.

“Editors are definitely more selective, because many newsrooms have reduced staff while receiving more pitches than ever,” said Sajid Raina, a freelance journalist based in Kashmir, India who has written for The Guardian, the BBC, and Rest of World. “When major international outlets reduce their presence or cut budgets, there are fewer commissioning opportunities for freelancers.”

The fall of the foreign correspondent model

Long gone are the days when journalists dreamed of being sent to work abroad in a publication’s foreign bureau, once a well-paying job with numerous benefits. In 2003, there were, according to one survey, 307 full-time foreign correspondents working for U.S. media based around the world.

That model was not without its issues. Even before 2020, I found that most staff reporters based in places like Tokyo, Jakarta, or Bangkok were older American or European men who, often, didn’t speak the local language and had gotten the position not due to their skills, but their experience or connections. Many relied, sometimes entirely, on local staff, or stringers, who did most of the actual reporting but got paid far less and, according to a 2017 Nieman Center report, “largely work[ed] in the shadows, often uncredited.”

International reporting has been shrinking since the aughts: the Boston Globe closed its foreign bureaus in 2007 and the Chicago Tribune consolidated its foreign bureaus in 2009. Meanwhile, while the Los Angeles Times said in a statement that it contains ” dedicated bureaus in Mexico City and the Middle East,” its directory lists just one reporter each assigned to Mexico City and Beirut, respectively. In 2021, in a Foreign Policy piece, longtime foreign correspondent Janine di Giovanni lamented that “old-school foreign reporting has almost disappeared,” and that “were replaced by underpaid, undertrained, and often badly treated freelancers.”

It was true — earlier waves of layoffs and shutdowns didn’t necessarily mean coverage of a region would shrink. Instead, publications relied on freelancers, especially newer digital media outlets, like Vice, Buzzfeed, or Vox.

Those types of opportunities found Chandrani Sinha when she first started writing for global media outlets like Mongabay, MIT Tech Review, and Vice.

“I was doing in-depth long-form, narrative journalism and then investigations regarding environment and climate change,” said Sinha, a freelance journalist working for more than a decade in South Asia. Before the pandemic, she found outlets willing to cover reporting expenses, and in some cases, even provide insurance or logistical support.

But now, she’s found resources have become markedly more difficult, with rates falling and expectations rising.

“The rate we used to get, it has been cut in half after COVID [began],” said Sinha. “Now, freelance journalists are expected to deliver in-depth stories, while taking all the risk, without any institutional support.”

Impact of Trump’s second administration

As Donald Trump wins more attention from news media, one loser has often been international reporting. International freelancers say the return of Trump to the White House has made things worse on multiple fronts — as during his first term, non-stop news coverage about his every action has meant less attention, space, and pages for coverage about other important issues.

That’s been compounded by the new administration taking a hammer to $5 billion in U.S. foreign aid spending, including foreign media support.

Suddenly, hundreds of journalists were out of jobs. I knew many reporters affected, often former refugees or dissidents working for English and local language versions of U.S.-supported media outlets, including those at directly-funded operations like Radio Liberty, Voice of America, and Radio Free Asia, but also the nearly 2,000 independent media partners getting support to cover issues like the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, Syria, or Kurdistan.

For freelancers, this meant more competition. But at the same time, U.S. media outlets were giving less and less space and budget to global coverage, instead focusing attention on Washington, D.C. and Trump.

Journalist Ee Ming Toh used to work with global media outlets, covering Singapore and regional stories for outlets including Wired, CNBC, and the New York Times. But she rarely works for those places anymore.

“In the past, I used to write more Singapore stories for international publications,” said Toh. “Now, I write more regional stories and tend to work with more local media publications.”

Toh’s experience reflects a theme I heard again and again at N3Con, or in conversations with other journalists across Asia — less interest from major media in international stories, forcing us to look elsewhere.

Why foreign coverage matters

For many freelancers, the face of most foreign reporting, 2026 has been an especially hard year, with fewer outlets interested in our pitches and often silence from editors. Coupled with layoffs, it feels like entire countries and regions are being completely ignored by the mainstream media.

Sinha no longer sees a future as a freelancer, and like many of us, no longer thinks it’s worth the hassle for someone to embark on a career with such an uncertain future.

“With all the competition, editorial challenges, unpaid time pitching and networking, I’d like to shift to a normal job,” she said.

Ideally, Sinha said, she would stay in journalism, but with so few openings, it will be challenging — so she’s considering moving into communications. Many journalists, including former N3Con attendees, have moved on to other jobs from working in corporate public relations to running a guesthouse to making artisanal chocolate or running tea shops. But some, like Raina, are still trying — because if they don’t, then who will?

“I plan to continue freelancing because it gives me the freedom to pursue stories that are often overlooked by mainstream media,” said Raina. “I believe independent journalism remains essential, particularly in regions where many important stories are under-reported.”

Trump was arguably re-elected in part because most Americans have a limited understanding of our place in the world, and U.S. news has played a crucial role in spreading negative stereotypes about immigrants, Muslims, and other groups. And, in the frenzy to cover Trump, newsrooms are covering the world even less and neglecting an opportunity to amend past harmful coverage — leaving American readers more ignorant and less informed of our place in an increasingly complex, interconnected world.

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Nithin Coca is an Asia-focused freelance journalist covering environment, human rights, and politics issues across the region.

This piece was edited by James Salanga. Copy edits by Marlee Baldridge.