World News for Students of English

31-08-2015 07:00

Two television journalists have been shot and killed in Virginia while conducting a live television interview. The incident occurred at 6.45 a.m. during a live broadcast when shots could be heard, sending the reporter and her source screaming and ducking for cover. The interviewee, a local chamber of commerce head, was also shot in the back and is in a critical condition. Journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward have died in the incident.

Twenty-four-year-old Alison Parker originally joined the station as an intern and had graduated from James Madison University in 2012. Chris Hurst, an anchor at WDBJ7 tweeted shortly after the shooting that he and Parker had just moved in together and that they had been dating for about 9 months and that they wanted to get married.

Adam Ward was described as a gregarious, hard-working photo journalist, an avid fan of Virginia Tech and long-term employee of the station. He was engaged to Melissa Ott, who also worked at the TV station and was in the control room when the shooting happened.

Virginia’s governor said on a Washington DC TV interview that they are in pursuit of the shooter and that the suspect could have been a disgruntled employee of the TV station.

Police have released this image seen on live TV.

Difficult words: source (a person who gives information), duck (to get down), head (boss), anchor (a person who presents and coordinates a live television), gregarious (sociable), avid (very interested), disgruntled (angry or dissatisfied).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com