Learn English with Mr. Duncan - Lesson 38 (News)

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You know the world of English is a fun and exciting place to be. I'm so glad you could join me for another lesson.

Your Newsreader is Dick Sharpe. In today's newsFamous actress gives birth after sneezingMan in Leeds misses his bus and is twenty minutes late for workOnline English teacher Misterduncan buys himself a new pair of socksWe have exclusive picturesAll those stories, plus Sport with Trevor Fast and much-much more Right here on DNN NewsDon't go away!

Hi everybody, this is Misterduncan in England. How are you today? Are you OK? I hope so! Are you happy? I hope so! In this lesson we will look at words and situations related to the world of news.

The word 'NEWS' related to any event or information that is reported within a short time of it happening or information that was previously unknown. The word itself originates from Middle English and is the plural of the word New.

There are many words related to newssuch asAnnouncement, Bulletin, Communiqué, Dispatch, Notice, Report, Reportage and Statement.

That's interesting. There are many ways of receiving or finding out news. We can read it in a Newspaper. We can hear it on the Radio. We can watch it on the Television. We can search for it on the Internet. We can receive it on our Mobile Phones. Sometimes another person may tell us it. When this happens we can describe it asWord of Mouth.

Sometimes we hear news that may be inaccurate or not true. In this situation we call itGossip, Rumour, Speculation or Tittle-tattle.

Coming up next on DDN, Entertainment newsWe have an exclusive interview with up and coming Rap Star, T-BAG.

That's unbelievable. When we read a newspaper, the most important or newest stories will appear on the front page. When we watch the television news, the most important stories will be the first to be read out. These are calledThe Headlines or The Top Stories.

HELLO. When a television or radio news report is given we normally call this a News Bulletin. The information about each story is given in short and easy to follow sentences over a period of a few minutes. The average news bulletin takes around fifteen minutes to be given. A person who reads the news on TV or radio is called a News-anchor, Newscaster, News-host or Newsreader.

Needless to say, news covers many subjects, includingEconomics, Politics, Social Issues, Technology, Entertainment and Sport. It would be true to say that not all the new events that occur can be reported and because of this, they are usually chosen depending on their importance and overall effect.

Come onover here! Give us a smile for our readers! That's itgo onstay there! OKone more! YeahThanks a lot! The industry that collects and distributes all the news stories around the world is called The Media. This word relates to the fact that the person giving the news is in the middle of the process. It is also worth nothing that the word 'Media' can be used both as a singular and plural Noun. People who collect the news are calledJournalists and if they work for newspaper, then they can also be called a… Press-reporter.

Oh noanother grey hair!

When an event or news story happens suddenly, then we call it Breaking news or Developing News. This means that not all the details of the story are yet known. A good example of this situation would be the moments following the first attack on New York's World Trade Centre in 2001. When breaking news happens, it is given priority above all other stories until more details are known.

Thanks to new technology, we can now get all the news we need 24 hours a day via satellite and cable news stations. This type of service is called 'Rolling news'. The current events being reported are shown as text moving along the bottom of the screen like this.

Uh? Hello, mister cameramanI need my cameraman, where is he? I need to make it higher. What.... he's gone for his Supper? Oh.. that's no good! OKI'll do it myself. This new way of receiving news means that the different channels must compete with each other for viewers. Some people believe that this has caused a change in the way news is reported. They accuse news channels of worrying more about their ratings than actual news they are reporting. Despite this feeling it seems now more than ever before, there is a real need to be kept up to date and informed on what is happening in this ever-changing world of ours.

There is an expression in English that goesNo News is Good News. This means that sometimes hearing nothing about a situation is better than the possibility of receiving bad news.

Before I finish my lesson today I would like to say a special 'HELLO' to my new friends watching inBrazil, Chile, Ethiopia, Germany, Israel, Japan, Mexico, The Philippines and Puerto Rico. This is Misterduncanin England wishing you well and signing off. Ta-ta for now!