Count the number, say the news.

In this way I consider the amount of news on the site:

<?
$previev_amount=mysql_query("SELECT * FROM news;");
while ($previev_amount_inquiry=mysql_fetch_array($previev_amount)){
$amount+=$previev_amount_inquiry['amount'];
}
?>
: <?echo "$amount";?>

where in the amount column for each entry is 1

Question: Is it possible to do this in another way or is this the only way?
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PS This is a quote from the forum, I was always amazed at the cunning of the human mind, but I am glad that the person understood that something is wrong ...