You are quite right, of course, RM.
Grammatically. news and tidings are not the same.
News is an uncountable noun which, like all uncountable nouns, has a singular verb.
The news was very bad.
Tidings is a countable plural noun which has no singular. It has a plural verb.
The tidings were very bad
Many such plural nouns are allowed as common words in Chi, however - odds, banns, goods , scissors are a few examples that come to mind.