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German · Vocabulary · B1 to C1

German media vocabulary: die Nachrichten, die Schlagzeile, and “er sagt, er sei…”

Live · Nachrichten um 20 Uhr Streik bei der Bahn: Tausende Züge fallen aus Rail strike: thousands of trains cancelled
Streikstrikebei der Bahn:at the railwayTausendethousandsZügetrainsfallen aus.fall out
SHTRAIK bai dair BAAN: TAU-zen-de TSÜ-ge FA-len AUS · “Rail strike: thousands of trains cancelled”Why: The headline opens with a noun phrase and a colon. ausfallen (to be cancelled) is a separable verb: aus splits off and goes to the end.

Short answer: the news is die Nachrichten (always plural), a headline is die Schlagzeile, and a TV or radio programme is die Sendung. German headlines drop articles and pack meaning into nouns: Streik bei der Bahn. When news reports what someone said, it uses a special verb form, the Konjunktiv I: Er sagt, er sei zufrieden (“He says he is satisfied”). The main public broadcasters are ARD and ZDF; every household pays a monthly fee for them.

How the news reports what people said

Ich bin zufrieden → er sei zufrieden

In reported speech (retelling someone’s words instead of quoting them), news German switches the verb to Konjunktiv I. It signals: “this is what they said; we are not claiming it is true.” You mostly meet it in the third person: er sei, sie habe, es gebe.

„Ich bin zufrieden.“ Er sagt, er sei zufrieden. direct quote · indicativereported · Konjunktiv Ino dass needed, verb stays second
Two changes: the person shifts (ich → er) and the verb takes its Konjunktiv I form (bin → sei).
sei · from sein (to be)
Der Ministerthe ministersagte,saiderheseiiszufrieden.satisfied
dair mi-NIS-ter ZAAK-te, air ZAI tsu-FREE-den · “The minister said he was satisfied.”Why: sei is the Konjunktiv I of sein. The tense of sagte doesn’t change it.
habe · from haben (to have)
Siesheerklärte,explainedsieshehabehasnichtsnothinggewusst.known
zee er-KLAIR-te, zee HAA-be NIKHTS ge-VUST · “She stated that she had known nothing.”Why: habe + participle reports a past event: sie habe gewusst.
laut · according to
Lautaccording-toPolizeipolicegab esthere-werekeinenoVerletzten.injured
LAUT po-li-TSAI GAAP es KAI-ne fair-LETS-ten · “According to the police, no one was injured.”Why: laut + source, usually with no article: laut Polizei, laut Bericht.
soll · reportedly
Erhesollis-said-tozurücktreten.resign
air ZOL tsu-RÜK-tray-ten · “He is reportedly going to resign.”Why: sollen here means “is said to”: a rumour, not an order.
Who’s who in German media

ARD, ZDF, Bild and Die Zeit

NameTypeGood to know
ARD (Das Erste)public TVRuns the Tagesschau, the main 8 p.m. news since 1952.
ZDFpublic TVSecond national public channel; main news: heute.
Deutschlandfunkpublic radioNational news and talk radio.
RTL, ProSiebenprivate TVCommercial channels: entertainment, adverts.
BildtabloidGermany’s best-selling newspaper; big red headlines. A Boulevardzeitung.
Süddeutsche, FAZquality dailyNational daily papers from Munich and Frankfurt.
Die Zeit, Der SpiegelweeklyA weekly newspaper and a weekly news magazine.
Twelve media words with their gender

Die Sendung, der Sender, die Folge

Every German noun has a gender: masculine (der), feminine (die) or neuter (das). Learn each word with its article.

Social media verbs in the Perfekt

Gepostet, geteilt, geliked

German talks about the past mostly with the Perfekt: haben + a past participle at the end (Ich habe es gepostet). English loan verbs follow the regular pattern ge- + stem + -t.

IchIfolgefollowihrherauf Instagram.on Instagram
ikh FOL-ge EER auf IN-sta-gram · “I follow her on Instagram.”Why: folgen takes the dative case (the form for an indirect object): ihr (her), not sie. In the Perfekt it uses sein: ich bin ihr gefolgt.
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Related guides

Konjunktiv I →The full set of reported-speech forms.er seiNominal style →Why headlines are made of nouns.Streik bei der BahnTechnology vocabulary →Handy, App, herunterladen.das HandyAdvanced listening →News-speed German.Tagesschau