JRN- 2904-Editing for the Print Media - Week-4

Writing a Newspaper Story The Lead

Prepared by Dr. Sony Jalarajan Raj Monash University sonyjraj@gmail.com sonyjraj@sass.monash.edu.my

Parts of a News Story1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Headline tells what the story is about Byline shows who wrote the story Lead tells the most important facts (5 Ws & 1H) Body contains more information and details Ending gives something to think about

Parts of a News Story1. Headline Train accident forces evacuation

Parts of a News Story1. Headline 2. Byline Train accident forces evacuationAbeer Yusuf

Parts of a News Story1. Headline 2. Byline 3. Lead Train accident forces evacuationBy Scott Freed

A freight train carrying dangerous chemicals collided with a semi-trailer in southwestern Manitoba on Thursday, sending a towering plume of toxic black smoke into the air and forcing the evacuation of more than 100 area residents.

Parts of a News Story1. 2. 3. 4. Headline Byline Lead BodyFifteen of 20 derailed cars at an uncontrolled crossing along CN Rails mail line were ablaze, including cars carrying benzene and plastic pellets. At least one of the derailed cars was carrying hexane, although that car was not on fire, said CN spokesperson Jim Feeny. Emergency measures officials decided it was too dangerous to send in firefighters to try to douse the flames, said Edward Geirsbrecht, the reeve of Norfolk municipality. At this point theyre just letting it burn,he said. The way it looks it could take a couple of days. An area five to eight kilometres wide was being evacuated, although Manitoba RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Steve Saunders indicated the region was sparsely populated. The number of people that will be evacuated will be determined by the weather, said Giesbrecht. Right now it (the wind) is blowing in a direction where there is not a high population so its OK.

Feeny said neither the truck driver nor the trains driver were killed in the 4:15 p.m. accident.

Among the evacuees were 60 members of the Pine Creek Hutterite colony who live two kilometres from the crash site. Colony manager Lawrence Maendel was at the crash site shortly after the accident happened. My tongue was tingling, but we should be OK, said Maendel, who was frustrated at being

Parts of a News Story1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Headline Byline Lead Body This is a dangerous toxin it could get you any Ending

time, Roy said. One of the guys came tearing down the road. He said a ball of flame was going over his house.

What is a lead?A lead is the beginning of your story.If it bleeds, it leads

Lede, lead or IntroLook up lede, lead The most important structural element of a story is the lede or lead or "intro" (in the UK) the story's first, or leading, sentence. Charnley (1966) stated that "an effective lead is a "brief, sharp statement of the story's essential facts"" . The lede/lead is usually the first sentence, or in some cases the first two sentences, and is ideally 20-25 words in length. A lead is short, concise, and should make an impression on a reader as he or she browses through articles. The lead sentence is usually between 25 to 30 words long.Reporters use the most important facts to begin every story with a lead. A lead summarizes the major parts of the article for the reader.

What lead does????????

A good lead catches the readers attention, making them want to read on. It also makes the writer want to write more.

If the lead is successful, a basic story flow plan emerges.Good leads stress the impact of the story on the people.The mission of the news lead is to communicate essential news strongly, unmistakably, or alluringly signal readers to significant news that lies in ensuing paragraphs. Distils from a mass of facts, figures and quotations the single coherent statement that best expresses the meaning of the story. Present that statement in a powerful, evocative way. Notes on editing the lead The lead propels the story. The lead should highlight the salient and most newsworthy point of the story It should seek out the point that makes the story special Every word should be indispensable Word order and word choice are critical to good lead writing. Most important words come first.

Lead by Lead

Laws for writing LeadsThe top-loading principle applies especially to ledes, but the unreadability of long sentences constrains its size. This makes writing a lede an optimization problem, in which the goal is to articulate the most encompassing and interesting statement that a writer can make in one sentence, given the material with which he or she has to work.

While a rule of thumb says the lede should answer most or all of the 5 Ws, few ledes can fit all of these.

Different Types of LeadsSummary Lead Question / Interrogative Lead Set-up Lead Talking Lead Snapshot Lead Identification Lead Anecdotal or Narrative Lead

Snap Shot Lead :Create a picture of the setting or a character in the readers mind.Anecdotal or Narrative Lead :they may be grounded in a quotation; or they may ask a question, tease, or be mysterious. These more creative leads are most appropriate for human interest stories and are least likely to be found in hard news.

Leads . LeadsSet-up Lead :- Set up the action for the entire story in a few sentences.to the six questions (who, what, when, where, why, and how) are provided in the first sentence of the story. The summary lead is most often found when the news story is written as an inverted pyramid. In this structure, all of the important information is presented immediately, with support or elaboration following.Question or Interrogative leads :- may focus more on answering one of the six questions.Identification Lead :- When the most important element of the story is a person, the lead may emphasize his or her identity. These are labeled immediate identification (Laura Bush...) and delayed identification (An 11-year-old child was killed earlier today when.... Dead is...).

Summary Lead :-Answers

Talking Lead :Start with a line or two of dialogue.

Lead >>>>> What is this story about and why is it important? Common problems in leads Cluttered. More than one idea. Flabby. It says, "I don't know what this story is about." Dull. Ho-hum. No tension. No energy that drives the writing forward. Mechanical. No human voice, no "music." Just another burger and fries. Closed. A private conversation between those who speak the same jargon. It says, "Stay away. You don't know enough to read this." Predictable. Written in journalese or bureaucratese. Clichs. No surprises, no unexpected words of phrases that are unexpected and that delight us as they capture and clarify a news event.

No "chuckle quality."

How to attract through your leads?Qualities of Effective Leads Focus. Make a specific promise to the reader, and then deliver. Context. Involve the reader. Show clear, immediate significance. Answer the question, "Why should I read this story?" Form. Implies a design, a plan, a structure, a pattern that will help the reader understand the meaning. Information. Whets the readers appetite, promises delivery. Voice. A human voice talking to the reader. Provides the "music" to support the meaning of what is being read. Surprise. The promise of something new.

Editing Lead---- Test -1TEST - 1 The story is heading somewhere. There are strong factual vehicles and strong verbs to take it there. The path is not cluttered with obstacles grammar, structure, habit, opinion, stray information. The lead makes sense as a unit and as a part of a whole.

Editing Lead---- Test -2TEST - 2Weigh the elements within the lead against each other. Are they weighty, of essence, coherent, unique, and compelling? Weigh the lead against the next paragraph. Is it subject to elaboration, correlation or development? Weigh the lead against the story. Is it related to the body, part of a whole, and essential to the whole? Confirm that the lead foreshadows the other key elements. Is the lead a team player, passing the ball to the other team members who may score the goal? The lead must make a promise. Does it make a promise that will be kept by other paragraphs?

RememberThe lead needs support statements, quotes or more detail to explain what happened, how and why the problem or action occurred, reactions to the event.