World news, also known as international or foreign news, is the coverage of global events. This is distinct from domestic or local news, which deals with issues of particular interest to the residents of a certain region or country. World news often covers major conflicts and political developments, including elections or referendums, and it may also feature in-depth reports on the economy, sports or culture.
A news agency is an organization that prepares hard and soft news stories or features for other news organizations: newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasters and other media outlets. They sell their stories in bulk to multiple news outlets via a wire service (originally by telegraphy and now frequently using the Internet). Individuals, corporations, analysts and intelligence agencies also subscribe to news agency services.
Reporters who specialize in focusing on world news are known as journalists or foreign correspondents. These are full-time reporters who work for a particular news source or who have been assigned a specific story to cover. A subset of journalists is the special envoy, who has no permanent labor contract with a news source but is sent abroad to cover a specific story. A special envoy is usually paid a higher salary than a regular journalist. Often, foreign correspondents or special envoys are referred to as stringers. For more information on journalism education, see WORLD’s Journalism Initiative program. The WJI offers multimedia journalism intensives taught by WORLD News Group journalists.
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