Media & News
Media & News
Media and news vocabulary equips you to discuss current events, a common B1 speaking-exam theme, and introduces a couple of media-specific verbs that behave slightly differently from their English counterparts.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
berichten über + accusative: to report on
Die Zeitung berichtet über den Skandal.
The newspaper reports on the scandal.
berichten pairs with über + accusative to mean 'report on/about' — another fixed prepositional verb like the ones from the earlier lesson. English 'report on' happens to line up neatly here (über ≈ 'on/about'), which isn't always the case with these pairings, so it's a comparatively easy one to remember.
sich informieren über: to inform oneself / find out about
Ich informiere mich über die Nachrichten.
I inform myself about the news.
German frequently uses reflexive verbs where English uses a plain, non-reflexive one — sich informieren über literally means 'to inform oneself about', where English would just say 'find out about' or 'follow' the news without any reflexive pronoun. Watch for this reflexive pattern; it recurs across many German verbs of learning and perceiving.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| die Nachrichten | dee NAHKH-rikh-ten | the news |
| die Zeitung | dee TSY-toong | the newspaper |
| der Bericht | dair beh-RIKHT | the report |
| berichten über | beh-RIKH-ten UE-ber | to report on |
| die Schlagzeile | dee SHLAHK-tsy-leh | the headline |
| die Quelle | dee KVEL-eh | the source |
| glaubwürdig | GLOWP-vuer-dikh | credible / trustworthy |
| soziale Medien | zoh-TSYAH-leh MAY-dee-en | social media |
| die Meinungsfreiheit | dee MY-noongs-fry-hyte | freedom of opinion/speech |
| sich informieren über | zikh in-for-MEE-ren UE-ber | to inform oneself about |
| die Fake News | dee fayk nooz | fake news |
| der Journalist / die Journalistin | dair zhoor-nah-LIST / dee zhoor-nah-LIS-tin | journalist |