National news focuses on events and issues that have a wider scope than local news. It is often published in newspapers or broadcast by television and radio. National news stories can affect public opinion on a large scale. It is important that they are free from external pressures or influence so that they can be reported fairly and accurately.
The most famous national news channels are Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. These are 24-hour cable news channels that play a mix of reruns of news programs, analysis or opinion programming and live breaking news coverage. The networks are widely available on satellite, cable and over-the-air television providers.
In the mid-2000s, MSNBC was heavily criticized for having a liberal bias, due to its harsh criticism of then-president George W. Bush and open promotion of progressive or liberal ideas by its anchors, such as Keith Olbermann’s Countdown. The network is based in New York City, with its leading hosts including Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Chris Hayes.
Regional cable news channels that primarily focus on local or statewide programming include NY1 (which operates in the greater New York City area), RFD-TV (available nationally via satellite and some cable providers) and News 12 Networks (which serves six states in upstate New York). The NBC Sports Channel also has a dedicated college sports channel called ESPNU. Another business news channel, Bloomberg TV, was launched in 1994 by former mayor Michael Bloomberg and is distributed on cable, satellite and over-the-air television. It is one of the few TV channels that offers a live Internet stream.
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