This is the first of two parts exploring the threatened state of local investigative reporting.

In the recently released movie, “Spotlight,” an investigative reporter for The Boston Globe, Sacha Pfeiffer, grinds away at her job. She gets doors slammed in her face in working-class neighborhoods, she cajoles sources in coffee shops, and she pores over phone directories until the library lights are about to dim.

Her colleagues on the Globe’s investigative team, known as Spotlight, put in their own long hours. The reporter Michael Rezendes (played with manic, twitchy verve by Mark Ruffalo) hangs around courthouses and lawyer’s offices, digging out information through sheer persistence.

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It’s more difficult than ever for U.S. media organizations to cover international events. Since 2003, the number of foreign correspondents working for U.S. outlets has fallen 24 percent. Yet as press freedom continues to decline around the world, the need for major news outlets to sustain a presence abroad is more vital than ever.

That’s why a team of journalists and developers recently launched HackPack, a platform to connect freelancers and fixers worldwide to the news bureaus that need them. In doing so, media outlets can maintain an international presence and publish independent, original stories. At the same time, freelance journalists can gain an outlet for their work that pays a fair wage.