National news is a topic area that covers events and issues that impact the country as a whole. This is in contrast to local news which covers community events, crime reports and other issues that impact a specific city or town. National news coverage often involves political issues and major disasters that affect the entire country.
National political news coverage is offered by cable news channels like CNN and Fox News Channel. These channels focus on political stories and are more opinion-driven than traditional network news programs. They also offer a variety of political talk shows and debates.
Other national news channels include HLN, MSNBC and the business-oriented CNBC. CNBC’s sister channel, FBN, was launched in October 2007 by Rupert Murdoch. It is a more “business friendly” alternative to the CNBC channel. Both FBN and NBC are available on many satellite and cable providers.
In addition to the mainstream national news channels, there are also several independent and niche networks that specialize in a particular topic area. For example, the AccuWeather Network is a national weather news channel that offers pre-recorded forecasts and news coverage. It is also available on some cable and internet providers.
National news also includes international topics such as world politics, wars and meetings of multilateral organizations that have a global reach. These stories are typically covered by reputable news agencies such as Reuters and the Associated Press. These agencies prepare hard news and feature articles that can be quickly distributed to television, radio and newspaper broadcasters.