World news is the area of journalism that covers events and issues spanning internationally. Traditionally, this includes foreign affairs (although war coverage is often considered national for the media of belligerent countries). However, “world” can also be used to describe reporting on global events such as natural disasters or world summits. In the United States, the term is sometimes synonymous with international news, and some journalists may specialize in a particular area of world news.
There are many different kinds of world news reporters. The most common are full-time staff correspondents, who travel and report for their company’s news division. When a correspondent is stationed abroad, they often file stories from their local office, but they also attend meetings with community leaders, local officials and other newsmakers, and gather materials in other ways. These reports are then sent to the home news desk.
The major news agencies prepare hard news stories and feature articles, which are then sold to other news organizations (often newspapers, but also radio and television broadcasters, as well as private individuals and intelligence agencies). These organizations may employ a large number of staff to handle the writing, editing and production of their material. They also typically have a large roster of freelancers, who can work for multiple news outlets at once and are assigned to specific regions or topics.
During its run, WNN often featured both serious and offbeat news items, and also rebroadcast story packages from other ABC news programs such as Nightline and This Week. Its tone was often lighthearted and irreverent, and it was considered an apparent training ground for new news anchors who went on to other high-profile positions with the network or its local affiliates. Various segments included the “Insomniac Theater” (a film review segment with the anchors ad-libing their ratings) and the World News Now & You internet forum, which pioneered interactive viewer e-mail communications. On Friday mornings, the program closed with a version of the World News Polka by comedian Barry Mitchell on accordion.