Journalism what is a lead
Write in question sentence like the question to the audience. However, the audience did not necessarily prepare the answer. Your email address will not be published. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Skip to content. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Summary lead: This is perhaps the most traditional lead in news writing.
It is often used for breaking news. Historically this type of lead has been used to convey who, what, when and where. Some newspapers are adjusting to this reality by posting breaking news online as it happens and filling the print edition with more evaluative and analytical stories focused on why and how. Leads should reflect this. Anecdotal lead: Sometimes, beginning a story with a quick anecdote can draw in readers. If you use this approach, specificity and concrete detail are essential and the broader significance of the anecdote should be explained within the first few sentences following the lead.
Other types of leads: A large number of other approaches exist, and writers should not feel boxed in by formulas. That said, beginning writers can abuse certain kinds of leads.
The source is where the journalist obtains the information. This structure focuses on a single element in a summary. The goal of this introduction is to create a strong hook that encourages the reader to follow. Most reporters use this option because it provides a quick summary of what to expect in the rest of the article.
It uses as few words as possible while answering the six essential questions of journalism: who, what, where, when, why, and how.
The audience roars its approval as the music slows and the curtains begin to close. The professional group also tours abroad. Storytelling Lead. Make readers feel the drama and want to know what's going to happen next. Wall Street Journal reporter Angelo Henderson used this approach to begin his Pulitzer Prize-winning article about a pharmacist who is driven to violence by his encounters with armed robbery:.
Dreamlike, he found himself lying face down on a cold, gritty black-tile floor, a pistol against the back of his head. Grehl is a pharmacist, unassuming, mild mannered. A family man with a wife and a daughter. Amazing Fact Lead. Startling Statement Lead. When I was assigned to write an anniversary story about a widely-publicized murder, I knew I'd need a unique angle if I was going to get people to read about someone whom they'd already heard a lot about.
So, I began my story with a startling statement:. Alfred C. The radiologist's naked body was found in his bed, bludgeoned with a lamp. To her, the light gray house with aqua shutters on Briarwood Road is not where her father died, but the place where he lived. Opposite Lead.