National news refers to events or issues that have a significant impact on the whole country. These may include political issues, foreign policy and other matters of national interest. While many national news outlets focus on global topics, they can also cover local stories with relevance to the entire nation. The distinction between local and national news often depends on the proximity of a story’s subject and its ability to capture people’s attention. This can result in different news values that influence the selection of local and national stories.
The first nationwide cable TV news channel was CNN, which launched in 1980. The channel became famous in 1991 for its coverage of the Persian Gulf War, which was the first time that a television network was able to communicate with people inside a war zone and broadcast live from within it. Other national news channels that have since been created include Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg Television and NBC Sports Network.
In addition to these nationally available channels, some regional television stations have their own 24-hour news channels as well. These channels typically feature a mix of local and national news as well as local weather forecasts (which are normally provided by individual cable providers at randomized times throughout the day, usually about ten times an hour). Examples of these television news networks include New York 1 and News 12 Networks, which operate in upstate New York; Spectrum News, which operates across five states in the northeast; and New England Cable News, which covers six states in the northwestern United States.