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News Reporting &
Writing
Week 3:Lead writing
Kevin Voigt
The 5 “W”s & 1 “H”
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
News story structure
1-2-3-4
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1. The lead. What is the most important news? How can
you write it in the clearest way — and make it interesting
too?
•
2. Elaborate on the lead. Two, three, four or five
paragraphs that explain, support and amplify lead.
•
3. Key background and context of event, if needed;
information that helps readers understand more about the
news they are reading.
•
4. More elaboration of the news, in descending order of
importance.
Ledes: Hard Vs. Soft
Hard news lede
Gives readers the basic facts of what happened
and where it happened
Entices readers to keep reading to find out the
“how” and the “why”
Soft news lede
Gives readers a small, intriguing taste of the
story
Elements of a hard
lede
What happened or what was said
When the event occurred
Where the event occurred
Who (or what) was the source
Formula for a hard lede
Subject
Verb
Object
Example: “I love you.”
Not: “You are the person that I love.”
Start simple...
Keep it short; less is more
Under 35 words
Just the unadorned facts:
Donald Tsang announced yesterday that he will
seek a second term as Hong Kong’s chief
executive.
...and build from there
Donald Tsang, wagging a defiant finger at his
critics, announced yesterday that he will seek a
second term as Hong Kong’s chief executive.
Examples of hard ledes
Two New York City police officers were suspended without
pay after a video surfaced showing them striking a
handcuffed man this month in the Bronx, officials said
Thursday.
A 41-year-old man was found stabbed to death and covered
in a pile of clothes in his Midtown apartment on Thursday, the
police said.
Google may be in a turbulent confrontation with China, but
the company’s online advertising business is picking up
speed, helping Google to widen its lead over rivals.
Examples of soft leads
When Cyrus Hassankola moved to Dallas a couple of years
ago, after successfully going out of business in several
locales, he decided to settle down and go out of business
permanently.
“On a Sunday morning, not entirely awake, I decided it was a
good day for a bagel,” Howard Rose said. “It turned out not to
be a good day for handling a knife.”
Why wait until the next story about coagulated fat in sewers
comes along when you can read this one now?
Direct Lead
•
The direct lead is the workhorse of journalism. To
decide what is the most important part of the story,
ask two questions:
•
1) What was the most unique or the most important
or unusual thing that happened?
•
2) Who was involved: Who did it or said it?
The lead
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After answering those, ask one more:
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What words will help me write the strongest, most
dramatic lead that my material permits?
•
A good lead gives you a roadmap to the rest of
your story.
The lead
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Other points to remember:
•
Attribution can wait, sometimes.
•
Avoid long subsidiary clauses or titles.
•
Banish jargon and legalese.
•
Use a direct structure: S-V-O. Subject, verb and
object. (Wong [subject] hit [verb] the man [object].)
•
Time element usually goes after verb.
The Lead - Summing Up
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Decide the most important news.
•
Use strong, dramatic language -- specific nouns,
strong and/or colorful verbs.
•
Go to the heart of the event; give time, source,
place, but be concise.
•
Be accurate and truthful.
The Lead - Length
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The Associated Press tells its reporters to start
cutting if their leads run beyond 20 to 25 words. To
find places to cut, begin with:
•
Unnecessary attribution.
•
Compound sentences joined by but and and.
•
Exact dates and times unless essential.
•
Long titles.
Good direct leads:
•
Four men convicted of murdering a German family
of four in a frenzied knife attack were executed in
China yesterday despite pleas for clemency from
the victims’ relatives.
•
The what was different. Concrete, dramatic,
specific language. Time. S-V-O. structure.
Good direct leads
•
A LaSalle College physics teacher and a lab
technician tipped off students about questions to
appear in an A-level exam this year, a court heard
yesterday.
•
The who was important. So was attribution. S-V-O.
structure.
Good direct leads
•
Jewelry tycoon Tse Sui-luen’s rags-to-riches story
entered its darkest chapter yesterday when a High
Court judge declared the self-made company
chairman bankrupt.
•
Who was important. Place was important. Imagery
(a bit of a cliché, but sometimes it can work). Time
element. S-V-O. structure.
Rework leads
•
The sexual revolution has bypassed Hong Kong,
according to a survey showing many men are still
looking for passive, good-looking women and
women want a man with a big bank balance.
•
Good approach, but what about this:
Reworking leads
•
Men want passive beauties for mates while
women want guys with deep pockets, a new survey
says.
Assignment
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Read student profiles of yourself
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Highlight anything inaccurate in red
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Add correct information in RED CAPS
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Send back to writer and me
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Due no later than 9 p.m. Wednesday