National news is a term in the news media used to describe stories that impact a nation. This can include political events, natural disasters, or wars. It can also refer to the coverage of events that are part of a wider world news context, such as summits of multilateral organizations that have national participants. The term is distinct from international news, which refers to a subfield of journalism called world news.
Historically, the national news was delivered to consumers in printed form. However, in modern times, it is often transmitted instantaneously via various communication technologies such as telephone and satellite television. The information in these cases is typically gathered or reported by journalists or compiled from news agencies that gather and disseminate world news. This differs from local news, which is typically produced by journalists or compiled from a mix of sources including community members and officials.
Stories are selected for inclusion in the news media based on a variety of criteria, such as their strength or impact, how familiar or relevant they are to a reader, and whether they are locally-relevant. Several models of news making have been suggested to explain how these factors influence the selection process.
Local, national, and satire news programs aim to present a truthful reflection of the issues that are occurring in the community. However, because of the limitations that affect how these stories are packaged and presented, they may not be achieving this goal.
