1

TOPIC 3

NEWS LEADS

3.1 INTRODUCTION

The lead is crucial. It is the beginning of your story, a promise to the reader of what is to
come.

Donald Murray (Writing for your readers) : “Three seconds and the reader decides to read
or turn to the next story. That’s all the time you have to catch a reader’s glance and hold
it; all the time have to entice and inform.”

Edna Buchanan, former police reporter, the Miami Herald: “The best day is the one when
I can write a lead that will cause the reader at his breakfast the next morning to spit up his
coffee, clutch at his heart and shout, ‘My God! Martha, did you read this?”

3.2. HARD NEWS LEADS

The lead (originally spelled lede to differentiate it from “lead” type) tells the reader what
the story is about. Think of the lead as a teaser or foreshadowing of what will come in
the story. No matter what type of lead you write, you must back it up with information
that substantiates it. If you haven’t got material to support your lead, you have the
wrong lead.

Hard news leads – also called direct lead or a summary lead. It summarizes in the first
sentence what the story is about. Usually one or two sentences. It gets directly to the
point. Example – who, what, when, where and why.

1. Hard-news Leads

a. Summary Leads

A summary lead should answer several but not all the 5Ws and 1H questions.
Cannot accommodate so many questions in one sentence. It will be cluttered or
cumbersome. Choose the most important factors for the lead. Save the others
for the second or third paragraph. Example : who, what, when, where. Then,
who, what, why. Later, how, so what.

i. Order of Information

When you write a summary lead, how do you decide which basics to include and
in what order? The points of emphasis should be the first or last words in the
lead. Decide which elements are the most important – 5Ws, 1H or so what.
 2

Usually it is safe to use a subject-verb-object format: who did the action, what
happened, to whom. But sometimes the how or why is important.

ii. Active vs. Passive Voice

Active voice is generally preferable to passive. Active voice stresses who is

doing the action; passive voice stresses those to whom the action is done.

iii. Where To Say When

The time element can be confusing in a lead. In breaking news, when something
happened yesterday, the time element usually does not come first in the sentence.
But you need to place it where it is accurate, even if it sounds awkward.

iv. Delayed Identification

When the who in your lead is not a well-known person in your community or in
the nation, you can identify the person by age, location, occupation or another
modifier n the first paragraph. Then identify the person by name in the second
paragraph. When you use delayed identification, even if your story involves
several people, the first name you use should be the one you referred to in your
lead.

b. Updated Leads

The summary lead usually stresses basic facts about the news in the immediate
past, and it is usually written in past tense. This type of breaking-news lead often
is referred to as a “first-day lead”, as if readers were hearing the news for the first
time. Because television and online news sites require immediacy, leads are
often updated by advancing the story to the next step, a process called “forward
spin”. Newspapers also refer to updated leads as “second-day leads”.

c. Impact Leads

Explains how the readers and viewers will be affected by an issue. It answers the
question so what ?

d. Question Leads

Set story to answer the question in the lead.

 3

2. Attribution in Leads

Attribution tells the reader where you got your information. Too much
attribution can clutter a lead.

i. Fact vs Opinion

No attribution is needed if it involves a fact. However, if it is an opinion, then it

needs an attribution. If the information or fact is obtained by the reporter through
a source (secondhand information), then it requires an attribution.

ii. Accusations

A person is innocent until proven guilty in court. In crime stories, attribute any
accusatory statements to police or other authorities, especially when you are using
a suspect’s name. If the person has been charged with a crime, you may state that
fact without attribution. The word allegedly can be used when the charges have
not been proved, but direct attribution to the police is preferable.

iii. Quotes

Whenever you quote someone directly, indirectly or partially, you need to

attribute the statement. Full quotes are difficult in leads and can be awkward.
Direct quotes are not used in leads. You can use indirect quote or paraphrase in
the lead and direct quotes in the following paragraphs.

iv. Attribution First or Last

The most important is the information. If the attribution is cumbersome and will
slow the lead, put it at the end. If it is brief, you can put it first.

v. Cluttered Attribution

One of the most common causes of clutter in leads is too much information about
where and when something was said. Put some of this material in the second
paragraph. Put the location of the meeting or event much further down in the
story, or eliminate it altogether unless it is important to the reader.
 4

3.3 SOFT NEWS LEADS

Usually used in soft news or feature stories.

a. Descriptive Leads – describes a person, place or event.

b. Anecdotal Leads – starts with a story about a person or an event.

d. Narrative Leads – uses techniques of fiction including dialogue so as to start with

a dramatic action.

e. Focus-on-a-person Leads – suitable for profiles or personality features.

f. Contrast Leads – for stories about conflicts or unusual circumstances.

g. Teaser Leads – to tease the reader into the story.

h. Mystery Leads – promises the reader a surprise or a treat for reading on.

i. Built-on-a-quote Leads – if great quote, build lead around the quote.

j. List Leads – cannot be more than three.

k. Question Leads – to set story to answer the question in the lead.

l. Cliché Leads – a play on words