World news (or international news) is the term used by news media for articles that have a global focus. This is often contrasted with “national” news, which refers to stories that affect a single nation, and may include wars in which the country is involved or summits of multilateral organizations of which it is a member.
Historically, World News Now incorporated a mix of serious and off-beat news items interspersed with humorous and quirky features such as Morning Papers – a segment featuring offbeat newspaper stories that were sometimes juxtaposed with the day’s weather forecast; and World News Then – a presentation of segments from ABC News program archives that related to or contrasted with a current event. The program also featured a series of feature pieces highlighting a particular theme, such as a look at the history of the CIA or a visit to a prairie paradise based on the song by a pop star.
In addition to these regular segments, World News Now occasionally incorporated the rebroadcast of the primary story package from Nightline the previous evening, and the political discussion program This Week Monday mornings. A variety of other special segments, ranging from the Insomniac Theater – in which an anchor would give a one-to-five star review of a movie that had recently opened – to the World News Now Polka, in which the show’s music director, comedian Barry Mitchell, played the accordion, closed the show each night. The WNN website features a number of these archived specials, as well as the full daily broadcast.
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