National news is a category of journalism that reports events, issues and developments that affect the entirety of a country or have significant national implications. It can include politics, economics and major disasters. Local news, on the other hand, focuses on stories that are relevant to a specific community or region such as community events and crime reports. The line between local and national news can often become blurred, particularly in the era of social media when regional events can gain national visibility quickly.
The emergence of mass media such as newspapers and radio changed the scope of American journalism as well as the way that the public is exposed to information. While the mass media can play an important role in setting the agenda, they also face the challenge of balancing competing interests such as advocacy, muckraking and sensationalism against the need for accurate reporting.
Various sources of news in different countries tend to identify the same major issues in domestic politics, suggesting that the news media prioritise issues according to a shared set of criteria. This can lead to a situation where certain issues receive much more attention than others despite the fact that they are of equal importance to the public as a whole. Local and regional news may also be influenced by differing factors such as proximity and human interest. For example, the local news affiliates of Australia’s Seven and Nine television networks produce a total of twenty-six half hour long regional news bulletins from studios in Maroochydore, Surfers Paradise, Canberra, and Bunbury respectively. These are then simulcast nationally as part of the network’s morning news programs. Similarly, Norway’s public broadcaster NRK airs a thirteen-minute local news program called NRK Distriktsnyheter every weekday evening just before the network’s main evening newscast Dagsrevyen.
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