The markers of a media organization's prestige have traditionally been the number of foreign correspondents and overseas bureaus it retains. Until recently, flagship media companies would pay handsomely to locate bureaus in financial or political capitals, alongside places experiencing ongoing conflict. But the cultural capital thus accrued is expensive, and increasingly money and resources are being shifted from fixed infrastructure costs to news‐gathering budgets which finance parachuting reporters to cover breaking news stories. Today the world's major media organizations are positioning their few “hub bureaus” in strategically selected major cities, from where foreign correspondents can report in situ on their particular country or on behalf of nearby countries or wider regions. These high profile correspondents form part of a media organization's international news‐gathering portfolio, which may include news agency subscription, traveling reporters, freelancers, stringers, and local journalists.