National news refers to events, issues or developments that affect the nation as a whole. This may include the economy, major disasters and international news.
The term “news media” refers to a range of mass communication channels that report on current events, including newspapers, magazines, radio and television. In the United States, these include public broadcasters such as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and private networks such as ABC, CBS and NBC.
In the 19th century, technological change radically transformed journalism, with the advent of the telegraph and faster printing presses. This allowed newspapers to expand beyond their original urban centers and become more widely distributed. Since then, technological change has again shaped the role of the media, as radio and later television and the internet came to play new roles.
Nationally broadcast news is often supplied by foreign correspondents based in cities around the world. These reporters file stories to the news editor of a newspaper or radio/TV station, and they may be assigned to cover an entire region, country or even continent. When they do not have a permanent labor contract with the news organization, they are sometimes called stringers.
These 13 local stories that made a difference in 2019 illustrate some of the ways that newsrooms can work together and collaborate with community partners to create in-depth, complex, meaningful stories that attract attention and engagement. They also demonstrate the power of solutions reporting approaches, such as restorative narratives and collaborative journalism.