$query = 'SELECT 

tbl_news.news_number AS newsNumber, tbl_news.news_date AS newsDate, tbl_news.news_heading AS newsHeading, tbl_news.news_content AS newsContent, tbl_apanel.apanel_username AS newsUsername 

FROM tbl_news 

INNER JOIN tbl_apanel 

ON tbl_apanel.apanel_number = tbl_news.news_mreference';
-- ON tbl_apanel.apanel_username = tbl_news.news_mreference';

============ THE TABLE LAYOUTS ===============

mysql> DESCRIBE tbl_news;
+-----------------+-------------+------+-----+-------------------+--------------
--+
| Field           | Type        | Null | Key | Default           | Extra
  |
+-----------------+-------------+------+-----+-------------------+--------------
--+
| news_number     | tinyint(5)  | NO   | PRI | NULL              | auto_incremen
t |
| news_mreference | tinyint(5)  | NO   |     |                   |
  |
| news_date       | timestamp   | YES  |     | CURRENT_TIMESTAMP |
  |
| news_heading    | varchar(60) | NO   |     |                   |
  |
| news_content    | text        | NO   |     |                   |
  |
| news_status     | tinyint(1)  | NO   |     |                   |
  |
+-----------------+-------------+------+-----+-------------------+--------------
--+
6 rows in set (0.00 sec)

=================================================

mysql> DESCRIBE tbl_apanel;
+------------------+-------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| Field            | Type        | Null | Key | Default | Extra          |
+------------------+-------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
| apanel_number    | tinyint(5)  | NO   | PRI | NULL    | auto_increment |
| apanel_username  | varchar(20) | NO   |     |         |                |
.... .... ... taken out information here ..... .... ...
+------------------+-------------+------+-----+---------+----------------+
6 rows in set (0.01 sec)