LEADS & NUT GRAPHSWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013

WHAT IS A LEAD?

Beginning of the story that entices the reader, but ultimately tells the reader what the story is about

Lead is backed up by substantiated info/facts

Good writers and broadcasters write their leads last… why?

Lead is crucial due to scanning nature of today’s news reader

LEAD vs. NUT GRAPH

LEAD is a teaser sentence… enough important facts to lead the reader into the story.

NUT GRAPH is a focus paragraph that explains the point of the story.

LEAD vs. NUT GRAPH NUT GRAPH EXAMPLE from The Volante: The South Dakota Board of Regents has authorized the

development of the University of South Dakota's new 80-acre research park located in Sioux Falls.

The park will provide students opportunities to work as interns, researchers and part- time employees for local businesses.

In December 2012, the South Dakota Board of Regents authorized USD to create a corporation to oversee development of the research park. Executive Director of the S.D. BOR Jack Warner said the purpose of  the park is to have research conducted by USD bring economic growth to the state.

HARD-NEWS LEADS

Summary Leads One sentence summary of what the story is

about Very direct / to the point Should answer several of the basic questions

(WWWWHW or so what?) – chose most important

EXAMPLE-1▪ A 20-year old University of South Dakota student

was assaulted on Cherry Street early this morning during an attempted robbery, campus police said.

HARD-NEWS LEADS (cont.) Summary Leads

EXAMPLE-2▪ A spokesperson for The University of South Dakota

said Tuesday USD would hire 25 new professors and instructors over the next five years to increase student to faculty ratio.

Bad EXAMPLE (do not begin with clauses)▪ Declaring that property owners must be protected

from an arrogant government, House Republicans are nearing approval of legislation that would weaken federal efforts to protect wetlands and endangered species.

SUMMARY LEADS

Order of Information How do you decide which basic Q’s to

include and in what order? What’s most important? Subject – Verb – Object Good example on p. 125, WRN

SUMMARY LEADS

Active vs. Passive Voice Active is preferred Active = who is doing action Passive = action is done to someone

Active EXAMPLE: A University of South Dakota student was

sentenced yesterday… Passive EXAMPLE:

Clay County Judge Harvey Adjudicator sentenced a University of South Dakota student yesterday…

SUMMARY LEADS

Where to Say When Where does the time element go in a

lead? Confusing EXAMPLE:▪ University officials agreed to raise tuition by

$100 Monday. Better EXAMPLE:▪ University officials agreed Monday to raise

tuition by $100.

UPDATED & IMPACT LEADS Updated Leads

In online reporting, this happens a lot. Begins as a breaking news lead, but

when story is no longer “breaking” lead is changed to reflect new information or passage of time.

Impact Leads Explains how readers will be affected by

an issue Used often in broadcast news

ATTRIBUTION IN LEADS

How or when to tell readers where you got your information

Guidelines If factual or personally witnessed, no

attribution needed; If accusatory (crime or political),

attribution needed; Quotes must be attributed

ATTRIBUTION IN LEADS (cont.) Fact vs. Opinion

EXAMPLE-1 (FACT)▪ A 24-year old female student died Tuesday

morning when her car veered off Interstate-29 and she was thrown from the vehicle.

EXAMPLE-2 (OPINION)▪ A 24-year old female student died south of

Vermillion Tuesday morning in a vehicle accident, apparently after driving intoxicated, authorities said.

ATTRIBUTION IN LEADS (cont.) Accusations

Innocent until proven guilty! All accusatory statements must be attributed

to an authority (police, government, etc.) Using the word allegedly is okay, but

attribution to police is preferred. EXAMPLE:▪ A 38-year old paroled murderer has been charged

with kidnapping and raping two 16-year old girls in Minneapolis last month.

ATTRIBUTION IN LEADS (cont.) Quotes

Difficult and awkward to use in hard news stories

Works better in feature (or soft-news) leads

Partial quotes often work better than full quotes

EXAMPLE:▪ The University of Pennsylvania announced

yesterday that it was penalizing a senior scientist for “lapses in judgment” in an experiment last April in which more than 120 people may have been exposed to a virus….

SOFT LEADS

Usually used for human interest or feature stories (print / broadcast / web)

Types of Soft Leads: Descriptive (novelesque) Anecdotal (story) Narrative (more drama) Others (see WRN, pp. 140-145)

LEADS TO AVOID

Cluttered Good News / Bad News Nightmare Weather-Report Stereotype

CLUTTERED LEADS

Tries to cram too much information or major facts into one sentence

EXAMPLE Digging in, a dozen students from The

University of South Dakota, along the banks of the Missouri River, killed tow birds with one stone Saturday: they picked up trash and recycled what they collected to help raise $150 for a student who lost all their possessions in last week’s apartment fire.

GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS LEADS Clichéd and judgmental (not objective) EXAMPLE-1

Some good news for city police: The city council has been giving signals that it might not have to layoff officers, at least for now.

EXAMPLE-2 Some bad news for taxpayers: The U.S.

House of Representatives has given no indication when its proposed budget will go for a vote.

TIPS FOR FINDING YOUR LEAD To find lead, write nut graph (focus

statement), concentrate on main point of story

Reader Interest Memorable Story Point Focus on a Person Descriptive Build on a Quote Problem / Solution Narrative / Storytelling

IN-CLASS EXERCISE

Exercise #3, p.149 Active/Passive Voice Change this lead to active voice:▪ A 29-year old Phoenix man was killed Tuesday

when his motorcycle was struck by a car on East Ina Road.

Assignment for FRIDAY

READ AP STYLEBOOK: Punctuation Guide,

pp.371-81 INTERVIEWING EXERCISE (In-class) QUIZ

Part 1: Chs. 5-8, WRN Part 2: AP Stylebook, Punctuation Guide