World news is the term used in the news media to describe news about events occurring outside of a local or regional area. This type of news may be sent by correspondents working for various news organizations, or it can be gathered or reported through distance communication technologies such as telephone, satellite television or the Internet.
The term is also used to describe a specific subfield of journalism, called international or foreign reporting. This is a branch of news that includes both the foreign correspondent (full-time reporter stationed in a city or country and filing stories regularly to the news editor) and special envoys, who are temporarily assigned abroad for particular subjects.
In the early days of modern journalism, most news was local; however, as the newspaper industry developed and innovations in telecommunications allowed for more news to be distributed quickly and widely, more world news came into circulation. Early news agencies gathered hard and soft news stories from all over the world, and sold them to local newspapers for printing.
Over the years, world news has included serious as well as offbeat stories, repurposed segments and story packages from other ABC News programs, and an apparent training ground for new news presenters who have gone on to anchor higher-profile programs at the network or at its local affiliates. The program is often referred to as WNN by its viewers, and in recent years the show has added several interactive components. Among them have been the ability to email questions and comments directly to the anchors during the broadcast, and a segment in which the anchors ask the viewers what they want to hear about on the next edition of the program.