The national news section of a newspaper focuses on events that have significant impact across the nation, such as political scandals and major disasters. It also includes the work of local journalists who report on how these national events affect their community. National news can be found in newspapers, television, radio, and online.
National news is a key element of the journalistic landscape because it provides an opportunity for aspiring journalists to become familiar with the broader issues facing the media. This allows them to be more discerning about the type of news stories they cover and how they present these stories, and it also helps them determine if they want to work on the local or the national level.
Traditionally, national news was covered by centralized news agencies that prepared hard news stories and other news articles for distribution to other news organizations with little or no modification. These were typically distributed through wire services, originally via telegraph but today more commonly using electronic data transmission and the Internet. These were often subscription based services offered to individuals, businesses, analysts and intelligence agencies.
The most common example of a national news service is the Associated Press (AP), which has been in operation since 1846 and continues to be the leading source of independent, nonpartisan factual news in all formats. Other examples include CNN, NBC News and CBS News. In the United States, cable news services that are available 24 hours a day use live communications satellite technology to bring current events into consumers’ homes as they occur.