With media houses slash foreign bureaus, freelancers are filling the void

When Time magazine named journalists who faced persecution, arrest or murder as their 2018 Person of the Year, it described them as “The Guardians” in the “War on Truth.”

It was a forceful rebuke to those who demean journalists as peddlers of “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.” But for freelancers who risk their lives in conflict zones, recognition does little to change the fact that they lack steady paychecks and security.

For decades, most leading media outlets have shuttered news bureaus abroad and cut the number of foreign correspondents on staff.

Since then, freelancers have increasingly filled