World news, international news or foreign coverage is the jargon for the branch of journalism that deals with stories from abroad. These stories may be reported by overseas journalists who are full-time correspondents for news sources or – more commonly nowadays – sent in bulk by wire services that provide articles to many different news outlets (originally, via telegraph and then telecommunications). Some of these services are owned by major news organizations like AFP (France), Reuters (UK) and AP (US). Private companies, individuals and even intelligence agencies also subscribe to these services.
In most of the English-speaking world, there is a blurred line between “world news” and “national news”; national news includes events that affect the nation as a whole, such as wars in which the country is involved or summits of multilateral organizations in which the US participates. In some countries, including the United States, a distinction is sometimes drawn between “world news” and “political news”, with the latter often involving issues directly affecting the nation’s leaders.
In the United States, three ABC stations owned by Citadel Communications – KCAU-TV in Sioux City, Iowa, KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska and WOI-DT in Ames, Iowa (Des Moines, Iowa) – pre-empted World News Now at first when they rejoined the network in September 2011 after 16 years without an over-the-air ABC affiliate in those markets; WAWV began airing the show with its return to the network in November 2013 following expiration of existing syndicated programming contracts. In addition, NBC-affiliated station KTWO-TV in Casper, Wyoming and CBS-affiliated station WVII-TV in Bangor, Maine both initially did not clear World News Now, choosing to carry a simulcast of the cable home shopping network Jewelry Television instead; both stations added the show with their returns to the ABC family in September 2020.