World news (also known as international news or foreign coverage) is the jargon used by journalists for news stories that occur outside a country’s borders. It is a major field of journalism that can involve reporting on events such as wars or the annual summits of multilateral organizations. World news stories often cross over into the realm of national or domestic news, especially when they concern a specific government or its national institutions.
The bulk of the articles that appear in most major news publications is world news. A reporter who covers a particular region, country or continent is considered a correspondent and files stories to the news editor on a regular basis. The reporter gathers information from sources in the local community, government officials, diplomats and members of the military, as well as from events he or she witnesses firsthand. Correspondents are typically employed full-time by a news organization, but freelancers who produce world news for several different media outlets are called stringers. Historically, the major news agencies prepared hard news and feature articles that were sold in bulk to newspapers and radio and television stations, using wire services like telegraph or more recently electronic communication technologies. They also sometimes provided information to individuals, analysts and intelligence agencies.