World news is a type of journalism that covers major events around the globe. These can include political upheaval, natural disasters and wars. News is often disseminated through a news agency or a news website. News agencies are organizations that gather and distribute information from abroad to newspaper editors, radio and television broadcasters and other media outlets, such as websites. They are also sometimes referred to as wire services or newswires.
The news on world news can be serious or offbeat, but the tone is often lighthearted and irreverent. Various oddities are interspersed with the actual news, including weather forecasts, sports highlights and repurposed segments and story packages from other ABC News programs. The program has been a training ground for new news anchors, some of whom went on to bigger-profile roles with other networks and local affiliates.
Among the more offbeat stories that appeared on WWN were ones involving alien abductions, the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot and other mythical creatures. Other common themes included predictions of an oncoming depression or apocalypse, lost prophecies and religious relics such as sandals worn by Jesus. The tabloid also reported on new findings related to the Bible, including relics from Noah’s Ark and the Garden of Eden. Other articles claimed that natural disasters or human economic activities such as drilling for oil had opened portals into Hell from which demons were wreaking havoc on Earth.
Weekly World News also frequently ran political satire regarding current and past presidents, especially of George W. Bush. The tabloid’s satire ranged from accusations that the founding fathers were gay to assertions that Bush was insane and had an affair with Janet Reno. The magazine also reported that a Roswell crash survivor was in contact with WWN through telepathic e-mail and that several factions of extraterrestrials were using the Moon as a dump site for waste products.