diff a/src/news_gui.cpp b/src/news/gui.cpp
--- src/news_gui.cpp
+++ src/news_gui.cpp
@@ -907,6 +907,7 @@
 	if (_total_news == 0) {
 		return;
 	} else if (_forced_news == NULL) {
+		if (_current_news == NULL) _current_news = _latest_news;
 		/* Not forced any news yet, show the current one, unless a news window is
 		 * open (which can only be the current one), then show the previous item */
 		const Window *w = FindWindowById(WC_NEWS_WINDOW, 0);