 This
is the hook that grabs the reader.
 Without the hook, no one will read
your story.
 It is the first paragraph. (for newspaper
writing a paragraph is usually shorter than
five sentences all the time – you’re just
giving the main idea and not all the detail
stuff)
 It is usually no longer than one or two
sentences. Much more and no one will read
it.
 There
are different
leads to go with
different types of
stories.
 Leads should NOT
exceed 35-40 words.
 They are only one
paragraph long.
 Remember to keep
people first when
possible.
 Hard



news leads:
The lead is quick
and to the point.
Nothing cute
because it would be
inappropriate.
Hard news: facts
that people
want/need to know
These are usually
found in the hard
news story. Use only
“just the facts.”
 They encompass a
hook and as many of
the 5W and H as
possible.

Example:
 County administrator
faces ouster
 By Tony Cook for The
Cincinnati Post, Jan.
14, 2005
 Two Hamilton County
Commissioners plan
to force the county’s
top administrator out
of office today.

 Hard
news:
 A fire destroyed a
home.
Four people were
left homeless
Tuesday after a
five alarm blaze
swept through
their two story
home.
 The next graph,
the nut graph,
would contain the
specifics.

 The
school’s
budget is cut

The Board of
Supervisors have
decided to cut
school spending by
35 percent for the
upcoming budget;
including cutting
high school football
programs.

This lead sets the scene
with a story. It can be
used with both hard
news (less likely) and
features.





Example:
Anecdotal lead:
Tri-staters tell stories
of the devastating
tsunami
By Tony Cook for The
Cincinnati Post, Jan. 8,
2005
From Dan Ralescu’s sunwarmed beach chair in
Thailand, the Indian
Ocean began to look,
oddly, not so much like
waves but bread dough.




Asks a question to get the
reader thinking.
However, the answer must be
provided in the nut graph.
Can be used in all types of
stories – however, using this
too often will make your
editor unhappy.
Gimmick type of lead.




Same lobbyist for courts,
shorter term, more money
By Tony Cook for the Las
Vegas Sun, June 29, 2008
What’s increasing faster than
the price of gasoline?
Apparently, the cost of court
lobbyists.
District and Justice Court
Judges want to hire lobbyist
Rick Loop for $150,000 to
represent the court system in
Carson City through the 2009
legislative session. During the
past session, Loop’s price tag
was $80,000.
 Starts
with a quote.
Must be best quote
ever. Can be used in
any type of story.
 Good to set the
scene.
 Example:
I
don't want to
sound antiAmerican," poet
Derek Walcott told
his audience at
Illinois Wesleyan
University, "but this
country is the only
nation that taxes
the Nobel Prize."
 Start
with a very
very brief
background of
what’s happening
and then follow it
up in the same
sentence with the
current event.
 Example:
 After
two weeks of
picketing, United
Auto Workers put
down their signs
yesterday following
an agreement which
would give members
a 10 percent raise.
You give the reader
two images in the
lead.
 Create an irony they
want to read more
about.
 Also called “turn
around leads”
because there is some
type of turn in the
sentence. Usually
noted by “however”,
“but” or other similar
words.

Example:
 St. John's Church
survived the 1868 fire
that destroyed most
of Bloomington, and
it weathered
firebombs thrown in
anger during the
sixties. But it
crumbled last night
under the weight of
snow from yesterday's
freak storm.

 Soft
news is
considered
entertainment,
features, lifestyle.
You don’t need to
get directly to the
point with those
stories.
 You want to
entertain the reader
– not get directly to
informing
 Not
usually found in
hard news.
 Usually a little more
light hearted and
quirky. Good way to
hook reader.
 Starts off with some
obscure or random
statement the
reader wouldn’t
expect.
 Example:
 Two
muskrats have
taken over Holiday
Pool, evading
would-be capturers
and forcing
residents to look for
other ways to
survive the latest
heat-wave.
 Indirect
leads tease
the reader and
don’t provide all the
information up
front.
 These are used
mainly on features.
 They address the
reader directly and
assume a “you”
speaking form.
 Examples:
What has four
eyes, two feet,
and likes to live in
your sock drawer?
 The soft crunching
sound on the pavement
behind you late at night
may not be as scary as
you think.
 Yoda may have gotten
it right when he said the
force is with you.

 Sometimes,
with
feature and
entertainment
stories, the lead
could be a few
paragraphs in length
before the writer
really starts the
article.
 But, remember – it
must be interesting
or else people will
stop reading.




Source: BBC
Article: Deadly landslide
hits town in Southern
Mexico
URL:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ne
ws/world-latin-america11429439
Reason it's a good lead:
This lead does a good job
of capturing what, how,
where, and who. It is
clear, concise, and gets to
the point right away. It
also grabs the readers
attention.

Lead: A landslide

Summary Lead
triggered by heavy
rain has hit a town in
southern Mexico,
killing at least four
people and engulfing
a number of houses,
officials say.




Source: Boston Globe
(Associated Press)
Article: Mass. Rep. Polito
again blocks $400M
spending bill
URL:http://www.boston.com
/news/local/massachusetts/
articles/2010/09/28/mass_re
p_polito_again_blocks_400m_
spending_bill/
Reason it's a good lead: This
is a good lead because it is
focused, uses effective verbs
and quickly answers where,
who, what, when. At the
same time, the lead/lede is
interesting enough where it
captures the readers
attention.


Lead: BOSTON—
Massachusetts Rep.
Karyn Polito has
blocked plans by
House Democratic
lawmakers to pass a
$400 million midyear
spending bill for a
second straight day.
Summary Lead
 We

By a
correspondent for
the Memphis Daily
Appeal, after the
first day of the
Civil War Battle of
Shiloh.
 Summary lead
slept last night
in the enemy's
camp.
 The

Shirley Povich,
The Washington
Post & Times
Herald, on the
perfect game the
Yankee pitcher
hurled against the
Brooklyn Dodgers
in 1956.
 Punch Lead
million-to-one
shot came in. Hell
froze over. A
month of Sundays
hit the calendar.
Don Larsen today
pitched a no-hit,
no-run,
no-man-reach-first
game in a World
Series.
 “I

Walter Terry,
dance critic of The
New York Herald
Tribune, after two
members of
Congress
denounced
Graham's dancing
as "erotic."
feel as if I had
been pawed by
dirty hands," said
Martha Graham.
 Quote
Lead
 What


St. Clair
McKelway,
Washington
Herald, in a story
about a disabled
World War I
veteran living in
poverty.
price Glory?
Two eyes, two
legs, an arm 
$12 a month.
 Question
Lead
 www.owl.english.p
urdue.edu/owl/res
ource/735/05/
 www.sun.iwu.edu/
~jplath/leads.html