break the news vs listen

break the news

verb
  • To inform someone of something first, usually used when it will be difficult to tell the person. 

listen

noun
  • An instance of listening. 

verb
  • To pay attention to a sound or speech. 

  • To expect or wait for a sound, such as a signal. 

  • To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent. 

How often have the words break the news and listen occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )