N2 · 40 words

The press

How newspapers report, announce, survey and sometimes get it wrong.

A Japanese daily paper traditionally comes in two editions, the 朝刊(ちょうかん) and the 夕刊(ゆうかん), and the story that matters most goes on the 一面(いちめん), the front page. Headlines, 見出(みだ)し, drop almost everything a sentence would have — particles, verb endings, sometimes the verb itself — so 首相(しゅしょう)辞任(じにん) stands for “the prime minister resigns”. Reading them depends on knowing the two-kanji nouns well, because often they are all that is left.

The words

Verb (2)

報じるto report (in the news)VerbN2

各紙(かくし)が一斉(いっせい)にそのニュースを報(ほう)じた。All the papers reported the news at once.

Written style; in speech 伝(つた)える or ニュースでやる.

偏るto be biased; to be one-sidedVerbN2

この番組(ばんぐみ)の内容(ないよう)は少(すこ)し偏(かたよ)っている。The content of this programme is a little one-sided.

Also of a diet or a distribution: 食事(しょくじ)が偏(かたよ)る, to eat an unbalanced diet.

This list belongs to Society, the news and history — six lists and 241 words that can also be practised as a whole.

Practise this list

Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 40 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.