UNIT - II

Q. What are Leads?

A lead or an intro is the beginning paragraph of a story. It is the hardest part to
write as it set the tone and introduces the reader to the rest of the story. It is also
considered as the most important part of the news story. The best written lead
not only satisfies the readers initial curiosity, but gives way to his appetite to
read more. A good lead paints a vivid picture of the story with a few words. If
the lead is not affective, the reader may skip the story. It should be appropriate
for the story. The lead must be accurate, short and crisp. It should reflect the
mood of the story. A reporter must see that his lead does five things:
1. Presents a summary of the story.
2. Identifies the people and places concerned.
3. Stresses upon the news story.
4. Gives an update of the event.
5. Stimulate the reader to continue the story.
The present-day tendency is to achieve all this as quickly and briefly as
possible.

Types of leads
Summary lead
These leads summarise clearly and plainly all the principal facts. It remains the
simplest in construction and forms a basic part of all lead variations. It
condenses the main point of the story into the first paragraph. It is also known
as straight, digest or conventional lead. It brings the central issue of discussions
at first. It tells the readers what they want to know in a creative manner. This
kind of lead is used in straight news, it answers right away all or any of the 5
W’s and 1 H which may be one of the following:
 Who lead – used when the person involved is more prominent than what
he does or what had happened to him?
 What lead – used when the event or what took place is more important
than the person involved in the story.
 Where lead – used when the place is unique and no prominent person is
involved in the story.
  When lead – rarely used as the reader presumes the story to be timely,
however this lead is useful when speaking of dead lines holidays or
important dates.
 Why lead – Used when the reason is more prominent or unique then what
had happened.
 How lead – Used when the manner, mode, means or method of achieving
the story is unnatural in a way.

Question lead
A question lead works best when a problem with reader appeal or public interest
is the central point of the story. Unfortunately, the question lead is used far too
often as a crutch by a reporter who does not take the time to work on a more
effective approach. Some editors put a limit on the number of question leads
that can be used. Question lead is welcome if the question asked really
illuminates the story. If the questions posed are provocative it may be used as a
lead.

Direct – quotation lead

This lead can be extremely effective if the quote is a good and popular one and
if it is not too long. Frequently reporters use quotes that are too long and
involved. Several paragraphs may be needed to explain them to the reader. This
lead is more used in speech reporting. This lead tends to be effective when what
is said is more striking than the person who had send it. Quotes frequently are
the essential documentation for a lead should be used immediately after a
paraphrase that summarises them. These lead helps in adding an element of
interest such as drama, pathos, humor, astonishment or some other factor that
will reach out to the reader in a more effective manner.

Direct – address or appeal lead

This lead speaks directly to the reader, often about the subject of broad interest
or appeal. It addresses the reader directly as you. It enhances the interest of the
reader as it directly talks to them. The you lead is intended it make a personal
appeal to the reader which maybe followed by a second person approach. It has
the effect of making the reader a collaborator in what follows. It often begins
with phrases such as “if you have ever thought” or “if you have ever seen or
read”.

Circumstantial lead
Such a lead stresses on the circumstances under which the incident has
happened. It usually crops up when the story has a human interest slant.

Discriptive lead
In this type of lead the reporter to paint a word picture of an interesting person
place or event. It also helps to create the mood for the story and for reason
should match the subject carefully. This lead describes how an event happened
rather than simply telling what the event is about. In this the writer try to pain
the event place or person.

Other types of leads

 Punch, capsule or cartridge lead – Short and punchy to attract the readers,
uses blunt or explosive statements to summarise the article.
 Contrast lead – Grab’s readers attention by comparing extremes.
 Historical lead – It draws attention on some characters or events in
history or literature that is familiar to the average readers.
 Suspended interest or delayed lead – In this the story runs in
chronological order so the reader has to read the whole story to get the
climax.
 Bullet lead – This is used in important news. In this lead short sentence or
a phrase is used in a straight forward manner.
 Name lead – When the person mentioned in the news is more important
than the case itself.
 Negative lead – Starts with a negative statement or news.
 Parody lead – This lead attempts to play on proverb, song titles or phrase.
 Funny/gag lead – It is written in a funny way but generally used in a
feature.
 Blind identification lead – Where the person concerned is not well
known.

Q. Write a short note on headlines?

Headline is a window to the new story.
 A heading must fit
 Must tell the story
 Must confirm to newspaper's standard
 Must not just be a label
 Must be safe
 And must not commit the paper to an opinion
The headline of the news items is much more than just a set of words. It is the
responsibility of the page designer to make each headline as definitive as
possible within the given newspaper format. Headline by its nature has to be
short and crisp but that does not mean that the headline should provide in
complete information. Writing an appropriate headline is a highly creative art
and need high levels of concentration, wisdom and awareness of the current
events.

Guidelines of headline writing

 A good headline should be accurate clear, grammatically correct
commerce strong active, fresh and immediate.
 It should catch reader's attention.
 It summarises the article.
 Best headline writers are spontaneous and creative. "The best headline
comes instantly."
 Read others headlines to get ideas.
 the more conversational the headline, the more readers will like it.
 The most effective headlines are those that give an old news a new twist.
“Readers are familiar with the news but something different about it will
reel them in.
 Four points to test each headline are: accuracy, clarity, tone and twist.
 Headlines are like announcements, commands and slogans. Headline is
not a complete sentence. They don't follow the rules of grammar for
sentence making but they should still convey the meaning.
 Headline without a work is considered passive headline. A simple
addition of our may make the headline active and more appropriate.
 Use the words whose meaning is clear to most of the audience.
 Too much or too little information kills the headline
 Too many abbreviations spoil the headline, while they are useful in
saving space and time and have greater communicative value but only
those abbreviations should be used that are of common knowledge.
  Since headline is not a sentence, punctuation marks should be used only
when absolutely necessary. Full stop is never used in headlines, a comma
and a semicolon may be used for separating one information from the
other.

Bifurcating the word heads

H -Herald’s the day’s news; tells what is of importance
E- Entices the reader with essential or interesting facts
A-Advertises the most important story by size or placement on the page (the
most important stories are displayed at the top of the page)
D- Dresses up a page with typography; helps make design attractive
S- Summarises the story; tells what the story is about

Types of headlines
 Banner headline: it is a one-line headline usually found on the front page
of the newspaper which covers all the columns from left to right. It is
written in large letters across the width of the page and is given below the
name plate of the newspaper. This kind of headlines is given to very
important news stories.
 Label headlines: when the headline just indicates the class or the type of
the event that is described in the news, it is called label headline. These
are generally used for regular columns.
 Skyline headline: it is used for very exceptional and exclusive events
where the headline is given over the nameplate of the newspaper. It
means that the event is even more important that the authority of the
newspaper.
 Skeleton newspaper: in some cases, just above the main headline, a minor
headline is added in lower case with a line under it.
 Waist line headline: both the top and bottom lines are wide and equal but
the central line is narrow and small.
 Rectangle and square headlines: in such headings, all the lines are equal
from left to right.
 Hanging headline: the heading with more than two lines which are
justified on the right side and unjustified on the left.
  Drop line headline: this type has two or three lines and arrangement of
lines look like a staircase.
 Inverted pyramid headline: such headlines are given to important stories
with multiple important points. Such headlines are many columns wide.
 Inverted stairway headline: opposite of the drop line headline.
 Crosser headline: crossers are normally one-line headline which is given
in the middle of the story
 Streamer headline: when a banner headline is found in the inside pages, it
is called streamer headline.
 Oval headline: it is a three-line headline in which a top and the bottom
lines are shorter than the centre line.
 Single line headline: it is a one-line headline which does not cover all the
columns of the newspaper. It is one of the most common type used by
Indian newspapers.
 Cross-line heading: It does not always span the full width of the page but
does cover all the columns of the story to which it pertains.
 Flush-left heading: Is a two or three line heading with each line set
towards left but the lines do not necessarily have to be equal in width.
 Deck headline: A second headline under the first, smaller in size.

Q. What is body?
The functions of body copy are amplification, elaboration, explaining
description, discussion, dialogue, arguments, and counter arguments etc.
depending upon the type of appeals used, the copy can be long (rational
appeals) or short (emotional appeals). Body copy supports the statements made
in the headline. If a question is put in the headline, the body copy answers it. It
always plays supplementary and complimentary roles. In body, information is
presented in order of it’s importance. The body must be divided into small
paragraphs with minimum possible punctuation marks. It should provide details
that elaborate the theme.