Chapter 7

 The lead (aka lede)  The beginning of the story that entices the reader  Crucial in any medium ▪ Especially in today’s media environment ▪ Social media ▪ Print ▪ Broadcast ▪ Online

 The lead ▪ Tells the reader what the story is about  Hard-News Leads ▪ Also called Summary leads  Soft news leads ▪ Also called feature leads  Nut Graphs ▪ Also called the focus graph

 Hard-News leads  Aka - Summary leads ▪ Should answer several, but not necessarily ALL of the 5 W’s ▪ Choose the most important of the 5 W’s for the lead ▪ Save the others for the second or third paragraph  Subject-Verb-Order ▪ Effective format for summary leads  “Who did what” or “what happened” ▪ Avoid writing summary leads with clauses (pg 124)

 Order of information ▪ When writing a summary lead ▪ The point of emphasis should be the first or last words ▪ Decide which elements are the most important  Point of emphasis ▪ Most of the time when writing a hard-news lead ▪ Put the most important info first ▪ Otherwise put it at the end of the lead

 Active vs Passive voice  Active voice is preferred in print & broadcast ▪ Stresses who is doing the action  Passive voice should be used ▪ When emphasis is on what happened instead of who  Where to say “When”  Time can be confusing in a lead ▪ For prior day events, when doesn’t come first ▪ When used, make sure it’s placed where accurate (pg 127)

 Delayed Identification  When the who is not a well known person ▪ Identify them by age, location, occupation or other description in the lead. ▪ Identify them by name in the second paragraph  Be aware of laws and newsroom policy about names of juveniles and criminal offenders

 Updated leads ▪ Used for stories that have already been introduced ▪ Provide immediacy for continuing stories  Impact leads ▪ Explains how the reader & viewer will be affected ▪ Good for broadcast stories ▪ Help to make stories seem fresh and relevant ▪ Help to answer the question “So What”

 Attribution leads  Tell the reader where you got your information  Too much attribution can clutter a lead ▪ If you witnessed the information ▪ You can eliminate the lead ▪ If you received it from a source/interview ▪ Include attribution

 Soft lead  Coaching tips ▪ Write multiple leads vs struggling to find the perfect one ▪ Make sure lead is related to focus and can be backed up ▪ Don’t strain to create a lead from your head ▪ Pull from the story to develop it

 Descriptive leads  Describe a person, place or event  Can be used for a news or feature story  Anecdotal leads  Starts with a story about a person or an event.  All soft leads are anecdotal ▪ They are storytelling approaches

 Narrative leads  Like anecdotal, tell a story with dramatic action ▪ To make readers feel like a witness to the event  Use writing techniques of fiction including ▪ Dialogue ▪ Scene setting ▪ Forshadowing

 Other soft leads  Soft leads can be written in many ways ▪ Focus on a person lead ▪ Contrast lead ▪ But-Guess-What contrast ▪ Then and now contrast

▪ Teaser lead ▪ Mystery lead ▪ Build on a quote lead ▪ List leads ▪ Question leads ▪ Cliché leads

 Leads to avoid  Cluttered leads  Good news/Bad news leads  Crystal ball leads  Nightmare leads

 Plop a person leads  Weather-reports leads  Stereotype leads

 Tips for finding your lead ▪ Reader interest ▪ Memorable item ▪ Focus on a person ▪ Descriptive approach ▪ Mystery approach ▪ Build on a quote ▪ Contrast ▪ Problem/Solution ▪ Narrative Storytelling