World news (also known as international news or foreign coverage) is the term in media jargon for news about a country or global subject, or sometimes about events occurring outside a reporter’s home base. It is a subfield of journalism, often considered one of the most important areas, although it can be controversial as well (see war journalism). Reporters that specialize in world news are called correspondents. Correspondents who work full time in a foreign city usually cover a region or even a whole country; they are called staff or senior correspondents. Other journalists that regularly report on world news are called stringers; they may be temporary or freelance and provide material for several different sources at once.
The weekly tabloid Weekly World News ran from 1979 to 2007 and was known for its outlandish stories and satirical approach to news. The publication devoted much of its attention to erroneous and absurd topics, such as alien abductions, frog babies and kangaroo women. Its infamous black-and-white covers have become pop culture images.
In the United States, a number of local TV stations have stopped airing World News Now. Some of these have moved to a 24-hour schedule, while others have simply dropped the show altogether or replaced it with other programming, such as a rebroadcast of Live with Kelly and Ryan or the cable home shopping network Jewelry Television. KTWO-TV in Casper, Wyoming and WVII-TV in Bangor, Maine preempted WWN in favor of a simulcast of Jewelry Television until September 2020, when they switched to an ABC 24-hour schedule.