World news (or international news or foreign coverage) is a broad term used in news media jargon to refer to the reporting of events that occur outside of a local or national context. These are generally reported by a reporter traveling or working abroad or reported through distance communication technologies such as the Internet or satellite television.
The major news agencies prepare hard news stories and feature articles that can be used by other news organizations with little or no modification, and then supply them in bulk electronically through wire services (originally they were provided through telegraphy; today they frequently use the Internet). In addition to newspaper, radio and television companies, these services are subscribed to by corporations, analysts and intelligence agencies.
For example, the ABC News program World News Now regularly replays story packages from that night’s airing of the network’s primary evening newscast, Nightline. The broadcast also features local and national weather forecasts and sports highlights, as well as feature segments. It has often been a training ground for new anchors who have gone on to higher-profile positions with ABC News, particularly on the network’s morning news program Good Morning America First Look and its successor, ABC World News Tonight.
Occasionally, World News Now features a “Morning Papers” segment, in which the anchors read out a selection of humorous or offbeat stories that appeared in newspapers the previous day. This was previously replaced by a segment called The Mix, which featured stories from the Internet and online newspapers. On the last day on which a full-time anchor of World News Now leaves, a ceremony of sorts is held, often involving cardboard cutouts of the departing host placed in the studio rafters for the “Anchor Hall of Fame.”