Wednesday- in class assignment- 1. read the following information on writing straight news leads.2. hand in the completed work sheet by end of class. There is a copy below.
Six rules for writing straight news leads
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Every news story begins with a lead (pronounced LEED), so learning to write a good lead is the first step in learning to write a good story. Journalists use many different styles of leads, depending on the situation. But most media writing students begin by learning the simplest and most common style: the straight news lead. Below are six rules for writing good straight news leads.
Rule #1: A straight news lead should be a single paragraph consisting of a single sentence, should contain no more than 30 words, and should summarize, at minimum, the most newsworthy "what," "where" and "when" of the story.
Example: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning."
The lead is a single-sentence paragraph. Note, please, that a lead should be written in ordinary English, not the clipped phrasing reserved for headlines like "Main Street home destroyed in early morning fire." Headlines, which appear in large print above the stories they introduce, are written that way to conserve space.
It contains 10 words -- far fewer than the 30-word limit. Notice that the word count includes even little words like "a" and "on."
It summarizes the main "what" of the story, which is that fire destroyed a house.
It also provides the "where" of the story with the phrase "on Main Street."
Finally, it gives the "when" of the story with the phrase "early Monday morning."
Important note: There are some mental gymnastics involved in correctly conveying the "when" of a newspaper story. Suppose, for example, that today is Monday, and the fire happened this morning. You might be tempted to write the lead like this: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early this morning." And doing so would be just fine if your lead were going to be published that same day. But most newspapers get printed overnight and distributed the following morning. That means that a reader who picks up the paper Tuesday morning and reads that the fire occurred "this morning" will inaccurately assume that "this morning" means "Tuesday morning." To avoid this problem, you have to write the lead - and, indeed, the entire story - so that it will be accurate when read during the reader's time frame: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning."
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Every news story begins with a lead (pronounced LEED), so learning to write a good lead is the first step in learning to write a good story. Journalists use many different styles of leads, depending on the situation. But most media writing students begin by learning the simplest and most common style: the straight news lead. Below are six rules for writing good straight news leads.
Rule #1: A straight news lead should be a single paragraph consisting of a single sentence, should contain no more than 30 words, and should summarize, at minimum, the most newsworthy "what," "where" and "when" of the story.
Example: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning."
The lead is a single-sentence paragraph. Note, please, that a lead should be written in ordinary English, not the clipped phrasing reserved for headlines like "Main Street home destroyed in early morning fire." Headlines, which appear in large print above the stories they introduce, are written that way to conserve space.
It contains 10 words -- far fewer than the 30-word limit. Notice that the word count includes even little words like "a" and "on."
It summarizes the main "what" of the story, which is that fire destroyed a house.
It also provides the "where" of the story with the phrase "on Main Street."
Finally, it gives the "when" of the story with the phrase "early Monday morning."
Important note: There are some mental gymnastics involved in correctly conveying the "when" of a newspaper story. Suppose, for example, that today is Monday, and the fire happened this morning. You might be tempted to write the lead like this: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early this morning." And doing so would be just fine if your lead were going to be published that same day. But most newspapers get printed overnight and distributed the following morning. That means that a reader who picks up the paper Tuesday morning and reads that the fire occurred "this morning" will inaccurately assume that "this morning" means "Tuesday morning." To avoid this problem, you have to write the lead - and, indeed, the entire story - so that it will be accurate when read during the reader's time frame: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning."
Rule #2: The lead's first verb should express the main "what" of the story and should be placed among the lead's first seven words.
Example: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning."
The verb "destroyed" expresses the main "what" of the story.
"Destroyed" is the lead's second word -- a position that puts "destroyed" well in front of "Street," the lead's seventh word.
Again, notice that the word count includes even little words like "a" and "on."
There are no other verbs in front of "destroyed," so "destroyed" is the lead's first verb.
Following this rule will force you to quickly tell readers what the story is about.
Example: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning."
The verb "destroyed" expresses the main "what" of the story.
"Destroyed" is the lead's second word -- a position that puts "destroyed" well in front of "Street," the lead's seventh word.
Again, notice that the word count includes even little words like "a" and "on."
There are no other verbs in front of "destroyed," so "destroyed" is the lead's first verb.
Following this rule will force you to quickly tell readers what the story is about.
Rule #3: The lead's first verb -- the same one that expresses the main "what" of the story -- should be active voice, not passive voice.
A verb is active voice if the verb's subject did, is doing, or will do something.
Example: "Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning."
"Destroyed" is the verb.
"Fire" is the verb's subject.
"Fire" did something. It destroyed.
A verb is passive voice if the verb's subject had, is having, or will have something done to it.
Example: "A house was destroyed by fire on Main Street early Monday morning."
"Was" is the verb.
"House" is the verb's subject.
"House" had something done to it. It "was destroyed."
Rule #4: If there's a "who" involved in the story, the lead should give some indication of who the "who" is.
First example: "An elderly Murfreesboro man died Monday when an early morning fire raged through his Main Street home."
The "who" is "an elderly Murfreesboro man."
In this case, the "who" probably isn't someone whose name readers would recognize.
As a result, the "who" angle of the lead focuses on what things about the "who" might make the "who" important to the reader. In this case, it's the fact that the man was older and lived in Murfreesboro. That's called writing a "blind lead." The man's name will be given later in the story.
Second example: "Murfreesboro Mayor Joe Smith died Monday when an early morning fire raged through his Main Street home."
Smith is the local mayor, and most readers probably will recognize his name.
As a result, the lead gives his name.
Rule #5: The lead should summarize the "why" and "how" of the story, but only if there's room.
Example: "An elderly Murfreesboro man died early Monday morning when fire sparked by faulty wiring raged through his Main Street home."
"... fire ... raged through his Main Street home ..." explains why the man died.
"... sparked by faulty wiring ..." explains how the blaze began.
Rule #6: If what's in the lead needs to be attributed, place the attribution at the end of the lead
Example: "Faulty wiring most likely sparked the blaze that claimed the life of an elderly Murfreesboro man last week, the city's arson investigator concluded Monday."
Attribution is simply a reference indicating the source of some bit of information.
In this case, the attribution is the phrase, "the city's arson investigator concluded Monday."
Generally, attribute assertions that represent anything other than objective, indisputable information.
Here, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the man is dead, that his house was destroyed, that it all happened early Monday morning, and that he house was on Main Street.
But the arson investigator's assertion that faulty wiring caused the blaze represents the investigator's opinion (based, of course, upon his training and expertise - but an opinion nonetheless). Therefore, the assertion needs to be attributed to the investigator so readers can decide how credible the assertion is.
Breaking down news leads Due at the end of class today 2 November
Analyze the following leads from The New York Times to understand how journalists use who, what, where, when, why and how to in building their leads. Not all elements may be present in every lead.
Example: Several dozen people were injured on Saturday in a crash involving two San Francisco light-rail trains at the West Portal Station, the authorities said.
Who? Several dozen people
What? were injured … in a crash involving two San Francisco
light-rail trains
Where? at the West Portal Station
When? on Saturday
Why? not apparent
How? not apparent
A. Federal transportation safety officials are investigating an incident involving a United Airlines flight on its way from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles that was forced to land in Denver on Tuesday because of turbulence. (July 22, 2010)
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
B. Fears that a fire had erupted inside the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday led several hundred visitors to flee its crown, observation deck, pedestal and base, officials said. (July 21, 2010)
Who? (The grammatical subject of the sentence – even if it’s not a person)
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
. C. The Chicago City Council on Friday approved what city officials say is the strictest handgun ordinance in the United States. (July 3, 2010)
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
D. A proposal to create four large-scale marijuana factories in Oakland has touched off a turf war in the lucrative market for medicinal marijuana. (July 18, 2010)
Who? (The grammatical subject of the sentence – even if it’s not a person)
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
Analyze the following leads from The New York Times to understand how journalists use who, what, where, when, why and how to in building their leads. Not all elements may be present in every lead.
Example: Several dozen people were injured on Saturday in a crash involving two San Francisco light-rail trains at the West Portal Station, the authorities said.
Who? Several dozen people
What? were injured … in a crash involving two San Francisco
light-rail trains
Where? at the West Portal Station
When? on Saturday
Why? not apparent
How? not apparent
A. Federal transportation safety officials are investigating an incident involving a United Airlines flight on its way from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles that was forced to land in Denver on Tuesday because of turbulence. (July 22, 2010)
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
B. Fears that a fire had erupted inside the Statue of Liberty on Wednesday led several hundred visitors to flee its crown, observation deck, pedestal and base, officials said. (July 21, 2010)
Who? (The grammatical subject of the sentence – even if it’s not a person)
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
. C. The Chicago City Council on Friday approved what city officials say is the strictest handgun ordinance in the United States. (July 3, 2010)
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
D. A proposal to create four large-scale marijuana factories in Oakland has touched off a turf war in the lucrative market for medicinal marijuana. (July 18, 2010)
Who? (The grammatical subject of the sentence – even if it’s not a person)
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
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