Grammatical

Beginning
Lead
Flora F. Balquiedra
Paete ES
Division of Laguna
Lead Checklist
(from “News Writing” by Anna McKane)

￮ Ideal Length - Aim for between 20 and 25 words

￮ The three things test – (word count, can be read
in one breath, and with 2 to 3 ideas presented)
￮ Don’t start with subsidiary clause: go for the
action first.
￮ The first 10 words are the most important –
make sure they grab your reader

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Lead Checklist
(from “News Writing” by Anna McKane)

￮ Mention a person name only if your average

reader knows who s/he is.
￮ Don’t begin with time or place.
￮ Don’t begin a news story with a direct quote.

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Grammatical
Beginning
Lead
There are times when the lead is
introduced by a kind of grammatical
form which is usually a phrase or a
clause used to emphasize a feature.
Here the important W’s are found in
the main clause.
 Prepositional
1
Phrase Lead
Begins with a preposition and
features one aspect of the story
which the reporter feels
deserves special attention.
Example:

With brooms and other cleaning

equipment, boy scouts from the Manila
Public High Schools clean the city
markets in consonance with Mayor Lito
Atienza’s CLEAN and Beautification
Drive.

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Example:

After reading the staff editorial

denouncing the administration’s dress
code, the principal tossed the student
newspaper to the floor, stamped his feet
and screamed, “Heads will roll”.

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 Infinitive
2
Phrase Lead
Begins with to plus a verb and
features purpose or dramatic
action or to create a minor note
of suspense.
Example:

￮ To encourage tourism, balikbayans

are given a warm welcome by their
fellow Filipinos.

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Example:

￮ To clear the allegations, Philippine

Transparency Monitoring Group, a
private taxpayer’s organization, said
today that the proposed municipal
budget of P900-million is more than
the municipal government can
afford.

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 Participial
3
Phrase Lead
Begins with a present tense
verb or past participle and
features action. Often, it
answers the news questions
“why” or “how”
Example:
￮ Hoping to cop first place, the PNU
wood pushers honed up for the
chess championship games. (present
participle)

￮ Dressed like priests, robbers

were able to enter the bank. (past
participle)
￮ .
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 Gerundial
4
Phrase Lead
Begins with a gerund and
features action or an
interesting detail.
Example:

￮ Winning the development

communication trophy during the
national press conference was
Araullo High School’s best
achievement of the year.

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Example:

￮ To meet the needs of the water ratio,

MWSS decided to open the Angat
Dam.

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5 Clause Lead
Begins with a clause which
may either be independent or
subordinate, or may either be a
noun or an adjectival or
adverbial clause.
Example:

￮ Because Sept. 9 was Osmeña Day,

all lessons dealt with the life of
the late President Sergio
Osmeña Sr. (Subordinate,
adverbial)

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Exercise

Identify the grammatical lead

used in the following then,
replace it with another
grammatical lead.

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1 As an unprecedented drought
scorches large swathes of
Sweden’s green pastures, farmers
are having to send their animals to
slaughter because they have no
hay left to feed them.

(The Philippine Star,Vol.XXXII No. 357,

Saturday, July 21, 2018)

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2 Amid the recent killings of two
mayors in Luzon, the League of
Municipalities of the Philippines
(LMP) in Iloilo wishes to revisit
security concerns of local mayors.

(The Philippine Star,Vol.XXXII No. 343,

Saturday, July 7, 2018)

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3 Having intentionally steered
England into what’s widely
considered the weaker half of the
World Cup’s knockout bracket,
coach Gareth Southgate is now
casting the upcoming quarterfinal
against Sweden as “bloody
difficult.”

(The Philippine Star,Vol.XXXII No. 343,

Saturday, July 7, 2018)
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 “What ever you choose as your
starting point, it should immediately
bring the story to life and get the
reader involved.” 22
- http://journalistsresource.org.
Thanks!

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References
￮ Cruz, Ceciliano J. (2010). Campus
Journalism and School Paper Advising,
Fourth Edition. Rex Bookstore,
Inc.:Manila
￮ McKane, Anna (2006). News Writing,
First Edition. Sage Publications
Ltd:London
￮ http://www.uiltexas.org

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