World news is a term that refers to the general field of international or global news. It also refers to a specific subfield of journalism called foreign coverage, which deals with news from abroad or about a foreign topic.

Generally speaking, there are two types of journalists who focus on world news: a full-time foreign correspondent and a special envoy (who is sent abroad to cover a particular subject or event). There is an important distinction to be made between “world” and “national” news because the latter involves topics that affect only one country and is essentially reporting on the domestic politics of that country.

In most English-speaking countries, the term world news is often synonymous with foreign news. However, the concept of foreign news was a major point of discussion in the debate over the nature of journalism in the 17th century, when national newspapers first appeared. At the time, there was a strong sense that nation-states were only incipient, so newspapers should report news from other places to provide perspective and stimulate interest. Foreign news was the primary focus of the courants that arose in Europe at that time, such as the Daily Courant (England), the Nieuwe Tijdinger (Antwerp), and the Avisa Relation oder Zeitung (Wolfenbuttel). These papers were precursors to the modern press agency, which prepares hard news stories and other articles that are sold to newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and other media sources.