Lead Writing

• Lead - Opening paragraph that gives the audience the most important information of the news story.
• Identify the 5W's and 1H before writing the lead
• The Inverted Pyramid - (Lead - most important info.) (Body - Crucial info, supporting facts) (Tail - extra info)
• Keep the lead simple
• Don't bury your lead as it is your hook.
• The ABCs of Journalism - ACCURACY, BREVITY, & CLARITY.
• Summary Lead - Most common and traditional lead in journalism. Contains 5W's and 1H. It is meant to give a quick summary in as few words as possible and is usually one sentence. 30 words or less.
• Summary Lead - Two children at play were killed today when a sports car jumped the curb outside Prospect Park and ran them down. Twelve in the group were injured.
• Summary Lead - An attractive 35-years-old woman executive was arrested today on charges of being the “queen” ruling a multi-million-dollar narcotics ring.
• Summary Lead - President Kennedy was slain by an assassin today in a burst of gunfire in downtown Dallas. 

  (UPI, November 22, 1963)
• Single item Lead - This lead focuses on just one or two elements of a summary lead.
• Single item Lead - The Philadelphia Phillies are World Champions again.
• Delayed identification Lead - The "who" is not identified right away in this lead because it isn't deemed as important.
• Delayed identification Lead - A school committee member has filed an assault complain against a fellow member, accusing her of grabbing her nose and twisting it following an executive session Thursday night.

  Patricia A. Ianelli yesterday alleged in an interview that fellow committee member Lucille J. Mandeville “grabbed my nose and proceeded to twist my nose” following a rancorous discussion during a closed-door School Committee meeting.
• Creative Lead - The purpose of the creative lead is to capture the interest of readers where a summary lead might not.
• Creative Lead - A late snowstorm surprised forecasters and drivers, Tuesday afternoon, triggering more than 30 accidents , Cleveland police official said.
• Short sentence Lead - uses one word or a short phrase as a teaser with the rest of the lead appearing later. 
• Short sentence Lead - One-fifth of an inch.

  That’s all the snow it took to trigger more than 30 accidents on local roads yesterday as a late spring storm snuck up on Cleveland motorists.
• Analogy Lead - This lead makes a comparison between and issue or event and something else a reader may be more familiar with.
• Analogy Lead - The Netherlands is considering anti-terrorism law that make the United States’  Patriot Act look like a civil libertarian’s dream come true.