World News Digest

World News Digest

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World News Digest

NOT Fake News: Content You Can Trust

K-12 Schools & Districts

Public Libraries

Universities & Colleges

About This Product

Presenting more than eight decades of authoritative news summaries and background articles, World News Digest contains a wealth of material and a dynamic interface that makes it easy to explore the events that shape our world. World News Digest frames events for research and is the place to start any reference project because it provides accurate, unbiased information that is clear, concise, and written for swift retrieval of the most important details.

For more than 80 years, World News Digest has been a go-to resource for context and background on key issues and events in the news. News sources, governments, and organizations including ABC News, CNN, Fox News, the Rand Corporation, and the parliament of Canada all rely on World News Digest for a broader view of the issues that matter today.

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FACT SHEET (PDF)

  • Topic-based research support: World News Digest promotes understanding of a topic by combining the latest news with key context and background. It has been the source for authoritative news summaries and background articles since 1940.
  • Exclusive, extensive coverage: World News Digest is packed with more than 350,000 original articles from 1940 to today. These include overviews of historic events, country profiles, historical documents, biographies, research features, special reports, editorials, and editorial cartoons. World News Digest also provides easy access to extensive historical video footage from the 1940s through the 2010s, bringing decades of key historic events to life. This rich archive provides a solid foundation for research.
  • News headlines: World News Digest features up-to-the-minute coverage with news articles from Reuters®.
  • Facts and figures researchers can trust: World News Digest offers researchers accurate, objective, and concise coverage of the most vital stories and issues.
  • Information in context: In our age of information overload, World News Digest offers clear and cogent political, economic, and cultural features that give a sense of time, place, and circumstance.
  • Videos: World News Digest features a wealth of historical footage, filterable by decade, including Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 “Day of Infamy” speech, footage from the Apollo 11 moon landing, President Reagan’s speech at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987, and hundreds more.
  • News Media Roundups: World News Digest spotlights timely, hot-button events of the week, linking to a wide range of editorially curated content about each event, including news articles, social media reaction, videos, editorial cartoons, and infographics.
  • Landmark Events in History: This section of World News Digest highlights major events, browsable by decade, from 1940 to today, including the attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
  • Browse news by country, people, or topic: The Browse News options available in World News Digest allow for a geographical, biographical, or thematic approach to recent history and current events.
  • Facts and statistics: The Facts & Statistics section in World News Digest features encyclopedia content for facts, figures, and general information behind the news.
  • Historical Documents: This section of World News Digest features primary sources with introductory notes that provide context and background—perfect for strengthening critical-thinking skills.
  • U.S. Presidential Elections: This World News Digest section compiles news articles, photographs, primary sources, and more for each presidential election from 1940 to 2020, plus a 2024 Elections Guide.
  • That Day in History: This World News Digest feature enables users to search a specific date for all the news that happened that day. Students can find out what took place on their birthdays or other important dates, locate upcoming anniversaries of major events, or just get a snapshot of all the developments from notable dates in history.
  • Curriculum Tools: This section of World News Digest features writing and research tips for students and educators—emphasizing information literacy—including:
    • Advice on analyzing and understanding editorial cartoons, newspaper editorials, historical documents, online sources, and more
    • Guides for presenting research, including avoiding plagiarism, citing sources, summarizing articles, writing research papers, and writing and delivering speeches
    • Educator tools, including advice on assessing students’ speeches, exploring point of view, preventing plagiarism, and using editorial cartoons and newspaper editorials in class.
  • Background and overviews: World News Digest provides crucial overviews and special features summarizing key topics to jump-start research.
  • Authoritative sources: World News Digest features expertly researched and written content distilled from a multitude of carefully selected print and electronic sources to form the essential record of world events.

  • Editorial newsfeed, historical newspaper editorials, and editorial cartoons from national and international newspapers, adding context and perspective on news events from 1940 to today
  • “Forward in Time” and “Back in Time” links for a complete chronological chain of events
  • Key background information such as searchable historical documents and images, primary sources, country profiles, and obituaries
  • Research Features and in-depth coverage guides on high-interest topics
  • Objective, concise historical and current news summaries
  • Carefully curated videos and news graphics embedded into coverage of today’s latest developments
  • Background information for every country, with Google Maps
  • Google Translate for more than 100 languages
  • Subject-based Search Assist technology
  • Tabbed search results with filters
  • Dynamic citations in MLA and Chicago formats, with APA guidelines
  • Read Aloud tool
  • Featured Story widget
  • Uses HTTPS, a requirement for many new browser features, to protect the security and privacy of our users
  • Searchable Support Center with valuable help materials, how-to tips, tutorials, and live help chat.

World News Digest: New COVID-19 Content and More

World News Digest, the go-to resource for context and background on key issues and events in the news, is continuously updated with authoritative news summaries and background articles on the issues that matter today, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 U.S. elections. Here are some new fea…read more →

World News Digest: New Overview Video

Hundreds of news sources, governments, and organizations—including ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, NPR, and the parliaments of Canada and Australia—rely on World News Digest for a broader view of the issues that matter today. Presenting more than seven decades of authoritative new…read more →

World News Digest: New Google Maps Integration

In an exciting update, World News Digest users can now find Google Maps at the top of each country’s overview. The maps come with an Expand option that enlarges the map to full screen, zoom in/zoom out options, the ability to click and drag to explore the map, and several map types including Terra…read more →

World News Digest: Spotlight on the 2020 Elections Guide

On November 3, 2020, voters in the U.S. will go to the polls to cast ballots in elections on the federal, state, and local levels, including for the presidency and Congress. The first Democratic Party primary debates have already begun for the 2020 presidential election—an election that promises t…read more →

World News Digest: New and Improved!

We’re delighted to announce that the award-winning World News Digest has just been relaunched. The go-to resource for context and background on key issues of both historical events and breaking news now features an improved design, a brand-new video collection and editorial newsfeed, and man…read more →

World News Digest: Brand-New Video Feature Coming Soon!

World News Digest will be relaunching for back-to-school, and one of the many highlights will be the addition of a brand-new video feature! For the first time, users will have easy access to extensive historical video footage—from the 1940s through the 2010s—never before contained in the databas…read more →

World News Digest: Spotlight on New Editorial Newsfeed

One of the many highlights of the soon-to-be-relaunched World News Digest will be the addition of an editorial newsfeed featuring current newspaper editorials, many from international sources, via NewsEdge. These thought-provoking new editorials will keep students and researchers on top of trendi…read more →

World News Digest: New & Improved Version Coming Soon

Infobase is delighted to announce that the award-winning World News Digest database will soon be relaunched, with a completely new design, improved navigation, powerful new functionality, and a wealth of exciting new content—including a brand-new video collection and much more. Here is a brief o…read more →

World News Digest: 2018 Updates

World News Digest is continuously updated and enhanced, increasing the educational value of this award-winning resource. Here is a recap of some of the content updates made so far this year. Recent Updates and Additions: News Media Roundups: Created more than 150 new collections of various media on …read more →

World News Digest: 2017 Year in Review—Updates and More

World News Digest has been updated and enhanced throughout the past year, increasing the educational value of this award-winning resource. Recent Updates and Additions: News Media Roundups: Added 340 new collections of various media on breaking news as it occurred; the feature is now searchable, and…read more →

“…continues to excel in its value and reliability…Recommended.”

Choice

“…user friendly…in depth…comprehensive and easy to use…provides a wealth of unbiased information concerning national and international news events and is highly recommended.”

Reference Reviews

“…provides a wealth of information and will help students researching for a multitude of assignments.”

American Reference Books Annual

“…a must for students obtaining background information on a topic…intuitive for even novice users…”

Library Journal

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