American Prestige E236 - The Decline of Newsrooms w/ Borzou Daragahi
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Feb 10, 2026 Borzou Daragahi, a longtime foreign correspondent and Substack writer, reflects on the unraveling of international reporting. He explores how podcasting and alternative media feed off legacy reporting. He traces the collapse of foreign desks and local news, critiques newsletters as replacements, and warns about tech and economic forces reshaping journalism.
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Local Papers Once Funded Foreign Desks
- Borzou recounts local papers once retaining foreign correspondents like him for Iraq and Iran.
- Those regional foreign desks largely vanished, leaving a cavern in international coverage.
Profit Motive Reshaped News Structure
- The capitalist funding model pushed news toward profit-driven content and consolidation.
- Daniel Bessner says this structural shift undermines sustainable, broad public-interest reporting.
Cut Unnecessary Security Overhead
- Newsrooms should avoid over-bureaucratic costs that hollow coverage, like excessive security overhead.
- Borzou suggests rethinking costly insurance and security practices to preserve reporting budgets.