World news is the section of a newspaper or magazine that covers international current events. It is often accompanied by editorial commentary and sometimes by political analysis or analysis of cultural issues. World news may also be used to describe a television or radio news program that reports on world events.
Originally, world news was a feature of newspapers that was printed in multiple languages and distributed throughout Europe in the 17th century. This was the era of early modern journalism, when nation-states were still incipient. By the 19th century, technological advances made it easier to publish and transmit information globally. The first news agencies, such as Reuters (UK), AP (US) and Avisa Relation oder Zeitung (Antwerp), were founded to prepare hard and soft news stories that could be used by any number of other publications or broadcasters.
Some of the features that were a staple of the original World News Now were InsomniACTS, a live music performance segment in which local jazz bands were invited into the studio to play a tune for the anchors; and World News Knows, a quiz show-style trivia section that appeared following commercial breaks. The show also frequently replayed story packages from other ABC News programs such as Nightline and Good Morning America First Look, which airs on a different time-zone schedule in some markets.
World News Now aired on ABC affiliates nationwide, with the exception of KTWO-TV in Casper, Wyoming and WVII-TV in Bangor, Maine, both of which preempted the show for a simulcast of the cable home shopping network Jewelry Television until that pairing was dropped. Occasionally, World News Now was also simulcast with the morning news program America This Morning on ABC stations in some markets.