Writing summary leads
Summary lead
definition
 Time element
 Verb tense
 Attribution definition
 Prominence in the
lead
 Attribution
punctuation
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Inverted pyramid
The 5 Ws
Writing basic news
leads
Leads that succeed
Facts usually fall into
The WHO
 Readers love
stories that focus
on people.
 WHO keeps it
real.
• Who’s involved?
• Who’s affected?
• Who’s going to
benefit?
• Who’s getting
screwed?
The WHAT
 WHAT gives news
its substance.
• Stories become dry
and dull if they focus
too much on WHAT.
• Need WHO.
The WHEN
 Timeliness essential
to every story.
• When events
happened or will
happen.
• How long they lasted
or will last.
The WHERE
 The closer the
event, the more
relevant it is for
readers.
 Many stories
require
supplements.
• Map
• Diagram
• Photo
The WHY
 Finding
explanations
difficult.
 The WHY is what
makes news
meaningful.
The HOW
 Often requires
detailed
explanation.
 Sometimes
omitted to save
space.
 Readers love
“how-to” stories.
Newswriting format summarizes
most important facts at story’s start
This is the lead, which summarizes the
story’s most important facts
This paragraph adds more details or
background
This paragraph adds even
more details
This adds more
details
More
details
The typical news story uses the
inverted pyramid
So should you
use this format
for every story?
 Resolve everything in the
No. It works
beginning.
 Allows editors to trim storiesbest for hard
news.
from bottom.
 Summarize first.
▪ Explain later.
Why writing a good lead actually
matters to readers
 If a story takes too long to
make sense…
 Readers flee like rats from a
sinking ship.
 A summary lead is a diagram
for the story to come.
How to write an effective news lead
 Collect all your facts.
▪ Lead should summarize.
▪ The more you know, the
easier it is to summarize.
 Sum it up. Boil it
down.
• List who, what,
when, where, why
of story.
How to write an effective news lead
 Prioritize the five W’s.
▪ Lead contains the most
important facts.
▪ Which of the key facts
deserves to start the
first sentence?
 Rethink. Revise.
Rewrite.
• Is
• Is
• Is
• Is
it
it
it
it
clear?
active?
wordy?
compelling?
How to write an effective news lead
 Writing leads often a
process of trial and
error.
▪ Try different
approaches.
 Create different
leads using the…
• Who.
• What.
• When.
• Where.
• Why.
 Mission: Invite the reader in and give the gist
of the story.
 Works best with hard news/breaking news.
 Answers key questions such as who, what,
where, when, why and how.
 35 word limit
 One sentence. One sentence. One sentence!!
 A good lead can serve as a diagram for a hard
news story
 Clear, concise writing is the key to success
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A man hiding in the
attic of a St.
Petersburg home
opened fire on officers
trying to arrest him
Monday morning,
sparking a firefight
that left two police
officers dead and a
U.S. Marshal
wounded.
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(35 words)
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One-sentence
No more than 35 words. No less than 15.
Usually past tense verbs
Concise, clear
Prominence dictates if a person’s name is
used in the lead.
Answers as many questions as possible: Who,
what, where, why, when, how…
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Heath Slocum sank
a 21-foot putt for
par on the final
hole for a dramatic
win at The Barclays
in Jersey City, N.J.
on Sunday.
(25)
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Hundreds of people
hunkered down in
emergency shelters
and thousands
stuck it out in
darkened homes
after a winter storm
that left 54 dead in
nine states
Wednesday. (27
words)
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Think about which questions are
answered in this lead.
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Shattered mausoleum walls were
discovered Tuesday morning at
historic St. Michael's Cemetery in
downtown Pensacola, and slabs
were overturned on above-ground
tombs in what could have been an
attempt to unearth the dead. (33)

Shattered mausoleum
walls were discovered
Tuesday morning at
historic St. Michael's
Cemetery in downtown
Pensacola, and slabs
were overturned on
above-ground tombs in
what could have been
an attempt to unearth
the dead. (33)
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What: shattered
walls
Where: St. Michael’s
When: Tuesday
morning
Why: attempt to
unearth the
dead…(creepy)
 Figuring out key questions to be answered..
 What happened? When? Where?
 You must determine the focus
 A fast-moving string of thunderstorms toppled
trees, flooded streets and prompted a tornado
warning Tuesday in northwest Florida. (Just 18
words answers what, where and when questions)
 This lead focuses on who,
what, when and where
 Steve Irwin, the hugely
popular Australian
television personality and
conservationist known as
the "Crocodile Hunter,"
was killed Monday by a
stingray while filming off
the Great Barrier Reef.
(26)
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35 words
Past tense verb
Answers as many questions as
possible
Which questions are answered
here?
Prosecutors asked a judge
Tuesday to impose the
maximum sentence on a
couple found guilty of planting
a human fingertip in a bowl of
Wendy's chili in a scheme to
extort money from the
restaurant chain. (35)
This lead identifies Naomi because
she has prominence (and a bad
temper)
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Naomi Campbell apologized
yesterday for hitting her maid
in the head with a cell phone,
but said it was an accident.
(21)
An early morning joy ride on a train engine in
Nelsonville, Ohio- with the whistle
blowing, ended back in juvenile detention
for two boys who walked away from an
unlocked detention home, authorities said.
(The boys don’t have prominence so their
full names aren’t used in the lead)
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It’s one-sentence, Clarice.
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Unless a person has
prominence…they are not
identified in the lead.
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A
German cannibal who
killed a man who wanted
to be eaten told a court
Monday that he had only
been carrying out his
victim's wishes and had not
expressly sought to kill
him. (34 words)
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A woman charged
as an accessory in
the Billings double
homicide was
arrested Thursday
on a bigamy charge
and released from
jail again. (23)
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Attribution is nearly always
placed at the end of the lead set
off by a comma.
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Definition of Attribution: Who
said it? Who is the source?
Attribution is underlined in the
following lead.
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A 2½-year-old Gulf Breeze
girl nearly drowned Sunday
at Johnson Beach, a Gulf
Islands National Seashore
park ranger said.
(19)
 After the verb works well…usually the best
place, but sometimes after the object or end
of the sentence is best. Time element NEVER
begins a summary lead.
Celebrity Paris Hilton was arrested in
Hollywood early on Thursday on suspicion of
drunken driving, Los Angeles police said.(18)
After the verb works best … most of the time.
Sometimes you have to put it at the end of a
sentence too.
 Or after the object
 Or where it reads best
 But never at the beginning of a lead
 Wrong:Tuesday a man was found dead at the
beach.
 Correct: A man was found dead on Tuesday at
the beach.
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CINCINNATI (AP) - Democratic Sen. John
Kerry, at a site where President Bush made
his case that Iraq was a threat to the United
States, argued on Wednesday that the
president left a trail of broken promises on
the path to war and has squandered money
that could be put to better use for health
care, education and jobs. (56 awful, dreadful
words.)
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(AP) - Democratic Sen.
John Kerry, at a site where
President Bush made his
case that Iraq was a threat
to the United States,
argued on Wednesday that
the president left a trail of
broken promises on the
path to war and has
squandered money that
could be put to better use
for health care, education
and jobs. (56 awful,
dreadful words.)

Democratic Sen. John Kerry
said Wednesday that
President George Bush left
a trail of broken promises
on the path to war and
squandered billions of
dollars. (26)
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Many of the details in the
other lead can be used in the
next two paragraphs of the
news story…no need putting
them in the lead.
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Run-on sentences derail summary leads all
the time when two sentences make up one
lead.
They are called fused sentences or comma
splices…here’s a fused sentence. (underlined)
Sixteen cars of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Corp. freight train carrying hazardous
chemicals jumped the tracks Wednesday
morning 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles no
one was injured.
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Fix with a coordinating conjunction (but)
Sixteen cars of a Burlington Northern Santa
Fe Corp. freight train carrying hazardous
chemicals jumped the tracks Wednesday
morning 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles
but no one was injured.
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Lesson: Don’t write run-on sentences they
are hard to read. (LOL)
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 Don’t use semi-colons to join two complete
clauses in your summary lead.
 Use connecting conjunctions instead: And,
but…
 Wrong: A freight train derailed Wednesday
morning; a broken rail is suspected.
 Better: A freight train derailed Wednesday
morning and a broken rail is suspected.