World news (also known as international news or foreign news) is the news media jargon for a type of reporting that covers events occurring outside the boundaries of a given country. This may be done by either full-time reporters sent abroad to cover a specific country or subject (called “foreign correspondents” in the media) or, more often, through bulk distribution of hard and soft news stories by various wire services, which in turn are sold to individual news organizations and, in some cases, even individuals and intelligence agencies.
The format of World News Now changed over the years. When it originally debuted, the show featured a mix of serious and offbeat news stories interspersed with odd features, including the “World News Polka” (played on an accordion by comedian Barry Mitchell), video footage of dancing camels on Wednesdays (for “Hump Day”), and laughter coming from off-camera during weather forecasts for obscure or exotic locales.
Other segments included “Financial News from the BBC” – a presentation of business news anchored by ABC presenters who stood on a set looking out on a London intersection; and “World News Then” – a feature that presented news stories and segment from the ABC program archives that related to or contrasted with a current event. The show also occasionally broadcast the first few minutes of an affiliate’s local late night newscast during a breaking story (for example, if there was a major snowstorm in New York City, WNBC would run the opening of that night’s World News Tonight). World News Now ended in 2020 with the network O&O stations at first WDAY-TV in Fargo and later WPVI-TV in Philadelphia choosing to run America This Morning in a loop from 3:30 until their local news starts at 6 a.m.
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