News is information that conveys current events to a mass audience through various media channels, such as television, newspapers and radio. National news covers important issues that affect a wide range of people, including politics and culture. It also includes news coverage of international events, such as wars and summits of multilateral organizations. National news has a wider reach than local news, and is often more influential in shaping discourse due to its ability to cover topics that affect people all over the country or world.
A national news story must follow professional norms to be considered valid and accurate. Normally, it must include all the “Five Ws” of information (who, what, when, where and why) and be as objective as possible. It should also be presented in a way that is engaging and interesting for the reader. Moreover, the news must be timely and relevant to the public.
The earliest forms of national news were written and verbal, but modern technologies have allowed for the transmission of news over a variety of media platforms. The Internet has become a major source of news, and has allowed for the rise of citizen journalism. Although it can be difficult for a government to shut down newspapers, radio and television stations, the Internet has made it easier to propagate news even in cases of government crackdowns.
The first nationwide cable news channel was CNN, which launched in 1980. Other networks have since followed, including CNBC, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. In addition, there are a number of non-national, local and specialty cable TV channels that focus on news, such as TheBlaze, NewsNation, RFD-TV and Bloomberg Television.