types of news leads

7/25/2019 Types of News Leads

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Types of news leads

Tbilisi


2/19

Types of hard news leads:

Direct or summary lead

Multiple-element lead

Immediate identification

Delayed identification


3/19

Summary lead

The most commonly used lead

Contains key facts (all or many of the !s"

#sually written in past tense

Includes most of the !s

$ttracts reader with stron%& simple lan%ua%e


4/19

Examples of summary leads

1. A KLM airplane en route fromAmsterdam crashed upon landing this

afternoon at Beijing CapitalInternational Airport, killing 2 of thoseon !oard and lea"ing 2# sur"i"ors.

2. A large tornado ripped through a small southeasternOklahoma town late Thursday, killing at least two people

and leaving more than two dozen injured, authorities said.


5/19

!hen to use a direct& summary lead

'reakin% news story

eed to %et facts out fast

)elati*ely simple facts: !s

+i*e readers information ,uickly& succinctly


6/19

Multiple-element lead

Contains two or three or more important aspects of the story&

in addition to the !s

At least three people were killed Thursday after a7.1 earthquake roked northeast !apan, knoking

out power to millions as the ountry seeks tore"uild and reover from last month#s devastatingquake

A strong earthquake shook northern !apan late onThursday evening, "riefly triggering tsunami alertsand renewed fears for the safety of the alreadydamaged $ukushima %aiihi nulear plant.


7/19

!hen to use multiple-element

Story has many facts

Se*eral facts e,ually important

+ood information

Disparate information

To create a lo%ical story structure


8/19

Immediate identification

The .who/ is an important element of the story--

perhaps the most important element

Story has more impact with person0s name up front

1*eryone knows who the .who/ is--public fi%ure& 2I3&celebrity


9/19

Example #1 (immediate ID):

4ead of the +eor%ian 5rthodo6 Church&

3atriarch Ilia II& left for Moscow on 7uly 89 toparticipate in e*ents markin% the &;8th

anni*ersary of the baptism of


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Delayed identification--why=

3erson0s title or position more important than

name

)eaders may not know the person by name

.!ho/ not as important as other elements of the

story


11/19

Example (delayed ID)

Almost '(( volunteers are searhing the

dense )est Tennessee woodlands looking for a

*(+year+old nursing student last seen "eing

dragged "y a man dressed in amouflage into

the woods near her home, investigators said.


12/19

Second-day leads

#sed when an on-%oin% story has newde*elopments

#seful for %i*in% a story a .forward spin/

Mo*es the story to the ne6t step

Stresses what is new in the story -- latestde*elopments


13/19

$lways lead with the latest de*elopment


14/19

Examples of second-day (folo) leads

1. olie will resume a searh today for three "oaters who

were missing and presumed dead after a torrential storm

"uffeted the east oast of the provine two days ago.

*. A judge will deide tomorrow whether four onvits who

killed a polie offier last year after esaping from

prison will live or die.


15/19

A second-day (folo) lead on a

disaster

A powerful e-plosion has hit a nulear

power station in northeastern !apan

whih was "adly damaged in $riday#s

devastating earthquake and tsunami.


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Active or passive lead?

$cti*e *oice stresses those doin% the

action

3assi*e *oice stresses those to whom

the action is done


17/19

Wic one to use?

$cti*e %enerally preferred

$cti*e *oice is stron%er

3assi*e is better if it %ets to the pointfaster

!"

!hen the emphasis is on whathappened rather than who caused it tohappen


18/19

Examples active lead

1. A pet iguana started a fire in a house in %ou"anutang last night when it knoked over a heat lampwith its tail, fire offiials said

2. !udge /ussell &hang sentened ta-i driver 0i 0eeto * years in prison yesterday for overhargingforeign tourists "y thousands of yuan over a five+yearperiod


19/19

Examples passive lead

A fire that led to the evauation of %ou"an

utang last night was started "y a pet iguana

when it knoked over a heat lamp with its tail, fireoffiials said

A 2eijing ta-i driver who regularly heated

foreign tourists "y overharging them was

sentened to * years in prison yesterday.

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