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Tpes Of Lead
By Dr. I. Arul Aram
(arulram(yahoo.com)
A lead (or an intro) is the beginning
paragraph Ior a story. It is the hardest
part to write as it sets the tone and
introduces the reader to the rest oI the
story. A good lead paints a vivid
picture oI the story with a Iew words.
Not many reporters can produce
sharp. original leads. Writers oI little
talent and scant iudgment load their
leads with oIIicial sources. oIIicial
titles. oIIicial phrases. even oIIicial
quotes. and produce long-winding.
cumbersome and dull leads. II the
lead is not eIIective. the reader may
skip the story. It should be
appropriate Ior the story. The lead
must be accurate. short and crisp. The
lead should reIlect the mood oI the
story. A routine lead is a short
summary oI an event. But iI the story
is interesting. a wide varieties oI lead
can be tried out. This chapter cites
several examples Irom The
Pofeional Jonali and The AP
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Writing Handbook.
Suppose a crowd has collected about
a wrecked automobile at a street
corner outside a park. A passerb
stops and taps a truck driver on the
arm.
`` He, Mac. What happened?''
``Two kids got killed. Car jumped the
curb.''
The truck driver here has done the
same job of a reporter in summarising
a news event. But a traditional
reporter would write like this:
Police Chief J.W. Carmichael
announced toda that two children
were killed outside Prospect Park, at
Jackson Ave. and 16th St., N.W.,
when a ``recklessl driven''
automobile jumped the curb near
where the were plaing at 2 p.m.
and ran them down.
This 40-word horror could have been
avoided b eliminating the name of
the police chief, a partial quotation
and overloading the lead with too
man information.
Such routine events and spot events
are normall written in straight or
summar leads.
Straight lead (or Summar lead)
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A good lead incorporates the inverted
pramid stle with the most important
facts first. It tells readers what the
want to know in a creative manner. If
the reader onl read the lead, he or
she would have a solid grasp of the
stor. The above accident report can
be written in a straight lead.
Journalists often resort to summar
leads pressed for time.
Two children at pla were killed
toda when a sports car jumped the
curb outside Prospect Park and ran
them down. Twelve in the group were
injured.
Police Chief J.W. Carmichael
attributed the traged to reckless
driving. The driver, slightl injured,
was . . .
Compared to news reports, magaines
and newspaper features have a great
scope for varied leads which appeal to
the reader. A capable journalist can
alwas use a variet of leads when
situations permit. We shall discuss
different tpes of leads.
Punch lead is a variation of summar
lead. Here attention is attracted b
concentrating with a brief, to-the-
point lead sentence and developing
details later in the stor.
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An attractive 35-vear-old woman
executive was arrested todav on
charges of being the "queen" ruling a
multi-million-dollar narcotics ring.
Unfolding a bizarre storv. police said
. . .
Caidge lead i anohe aiaion of
mma lead. Thi lead i bief and
conain one ingle ne inciden, o
be epanded lae in he o. I
impac make i a lead o eee fo
impoan oie.
President Kennedv was slain bv an
assassin todav in a burst of gunfire
in downtown Dallas.
(UPI. Nov. 22. 1963)
Beide being a aigh lead, hi
lead bing in acion and colo, and
make he lead on a po o fa
moing. No ala a lead ha o a
aigh lead. Depie i eflne,
he ineed pamid lead i no
iable o deiable fo all ne
iaion.
Descriptie lead
A decipie lead decibe ho an
een happened ahe han impl
elling ha he een i abo.
BRIGHTON. England (UPI) -- Mrs.
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Pamela Banden lol coned
fie, napped ino a hpnoic ance,
and gae bih o an eigh-pond
bab. I a a ea a ha.
Toda he elaed a he home hee,
delighed ha he ha become
Biain' fi elf-hpnoi mohe.
Eewitness accounts can provide the
background for writing lucid
descriptions which help the reader to
visualise a news situation.
An omino ilence, boken onl b
he call of a faaa bid, hng oe
he bale-caed hill hen
ddenl an eploion folloed b
he ell of chaging oop mahed
he illne.
The loali offenie, lanched o
clea oing geilla . . .
Qoaion lead
Quotes frequentl are the essential
documentation for a lead and should
be used immediatel after a
paraphrase that summarises them.
Here paraphrasing the verbatim
quotation permits the removal of
unnecessar words. But if a verbatim
quotation itself is ver important or
interesting, it can be the lead itself.
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This lead would add an element oI
interest such as drama. pathos.
humour. astonishment. or some other
Iactor that will reach out to the
reader. The brieI statement by U.S.
President Johnson in 1968 that he
would not be a candidate Ior
reelection was widely used as a lead.
Here. however. is a quote lead that
takes a lot oI explaining.
``I was furious that that disreputable
voung man had the audacitv to sit in
mv antique rosewood chair.
Thats how tinv. 82-vear-old Louise
Freeland todav described her brush
with a gun-toting escaped convict
whom she talked into surrendering to
Sheriffs officers.
Here goes a report on the increase in
iuvenile crime:
"Id like to iail parents themselves
who are so lax their kids are boosting
the crime rate'"
This statement came from Juvenile
Court Judge Warren Jones. in
releasing a report on the rapid rise
in iuvenile crime rate in this citv.
When a Iellow engineering student
was murdered by John David in his
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hostel room in a ragging rage, the lead
for a follow-up stor was a Biblical
quotation found on the door of the
culprit.
"Peace unto those who enter here."
These are the words seen on the door
of John David's room. The iron is
that David gave eternal peace to
Navukarasu, a fresher.
When Neil Armstrong landed on the
moon, most newspapers led with the
first words he spoke:
"A small step for man, but a giant
leap for mankind."
Qeion lead
Man editors dislike question lead on
the basis that people read newspapers
to get answers, and not to be asked
questions. But if the question is
provocative, it ma be used as a lead.
What is the first thing that a woman
bus when she is advised that she
won $2,50,000 in a jingle contest?
Mrs. Jane Roe, informed b XYZ
Soaps that her entr took top prie in
the nationwide contest, said that she
will bu a rhming dictionar that . .
.
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Peonal lead
I inole he e of he fi peon
ingla in he lead. Nomall ch a
e i dicoaged ecep fo a
colmni o ch piileged ie.
(Bv Reg Murphv. while editor of the
Atlanta Constitution. after being
released bv a kidnapper)
When the tall. heavv. garishlv
dressed stranger appeared at the
door. it was clear this was trouble.
He said. ``Im Lamont Woods. in a
Southern accent quickened bv
exposure to speech patterns
elsewhere.
I let him into mv living room for a
moment but hustled him out quicklv
because of the anxietv within him. Mv
wife. Jirginia. staved out of sight but
went to the window as we left and
noted that he was driving a dark
green Ford Torino. She tried for the
licence plate but couldnt see it.
And so I went driving into the
Wednesdav dusk with a man we both
knew was trouble. Neither of us
guessed then that it would amount to
49 hours of terror at the hands of a
kidnapper telling a bizarre political
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tale and demanding $7,00,000
ransom . . . .
'Yo' lead (o Diec Adde lead)
The `Yo' lead i inended o make a
peonal appeal o he eade inoled
in a complicaed iaion. The
econd-peon appoach eache o
o inole he eade and cape
hi/he aenion. Hee i an eample,
fail pical of a end oad
conmeim in he ne:
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- If ou are
one of 30 million Americans working
for a compan with a private pension
plan, Congress has given ou a new
bill of rights. It is the Emploment
Retirement Income Securit Act and
it promises that if ou have worked
long enough to earn a pension, ou
will receive one at retirement age.
Nothing -- including bankruptc,
plant closings, dismissal or
resignation -- can stand in the wa.
Le look a one moe eample:
Ski fans, here's our opportunit!
The recent storm deposited five
inches of powder snow on Pleasure
Mountain and the public ski lift is
being operated . . .
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Contrast lead
To a monoon, a aga can be pli
ino o enence -- he fi of
hich efe o he hmble beginning
and he econd o he heo' lae
imph. When Van Clibn, he
piani, ened fom a mical
imph in Moco, one epoe
oe:
Hae Laan (Van) Cilbn J. of
Kilgoe, Te., came home fom
Ria oda ih 17 piece of
lggage. The bepoke hi imph a
piani in Moco. He had hee
hen he en oe.
Hee goe anohe eample:
Richad Roe, ho aed 47 ea
ago a a $10-a-eek janio fo
Conolidaed Copoaion, oda
ook office a he fim' $2,63,000-a-
ea chaiman and chief eecie
office.
Delaed lead (or suspended
interest lead)
A iaion can be eploied in an
ineeing a o ha an odina
iem and o. The epoe dele in
eeal paagaph o find o ha
had happened. The eade m ge
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the stor b reading to the end of the
stor.
Dwight David Eisenhower once said
he would rather win the Medal of
Honour than be president. Dwight
Harold Johnson -- who was named
for Dwight Eisenhower -- said once
to a friend that ``winning the medal
has changed m life so much I don't
know if I'll ever get m head straight
again. But I know this. Nobod's hero
forever.''
Frida, April 30, in the drile of a
Detroit dawn, Dwight Johnson died
but not as a hero. He died in the
emergenc room of a Detroit hospital
with three bullet wounds in his side
and one in his head. He was shot,
according to police, b a store owner
he had tried to rob.
Here goes another eample:
Bill Turner, 8, received a red coaster
wagon for Christmas and it led to
problems.
This morning, while leaving for
school, he noticed that it was missing
from his front ard.
Two hours later his mother, Mrs.
John Turner, received a call from
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chool official aking h Bill a
aben.
Shocked and feaing ha hi on a
h, he called police, ho
conaced hopial and eached he
bank of he Red Rie. The
pepaed o dag he ae.
A ha momen, he a a bo
plling a ed agon hogh a
neab field.
Bill eplained o hi mohe and
police ha a fiend old him ohe
bo had aken he agon o a field
o mile fom hi hoe. He planned
o ge i on hi a o chool.
The onge aid he en o he
ong field and lo ack of ime
becae he a o inen on finding
he agon.
Blind idenificaion lead
If the person concerned is not well
known in the communit, his/her
name is less important than other
salient facts that identif the person.
eg. "a 80-ear-old woman" instead of
her name.
A police inpeco' on a aacked
ih a knife b ome micean on
Mon Road hi eening.
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The victim Pratap Daniel, 20, has
been admitted to a private hospital
and his condition is critical.
Anecdoal lead
The anecdotal lead is used when the
anecdote is bright and applicable and
not too wasteful of space. It brings
the reader quickl into a news
situation that might not attract his
attention if it were routinel written.
Here is one that began a series on
divorce in the U.S.
David and Ka Craig's two-ear-old
marriage is a second one for both
and their stor is one that is being
repeated with increasing frequenc
across the countr.
Each was married for the first time at
18. David's marriage lasted through
five ears and two children. Ka's
first marriage ended in divorce after
a ear and eight months.
The Craigs (not their real name) are
among the 13 million Americans
who, according to the Census
Bureau, at one time or another have
been through a divorce. More than
four million Americans currentl list
their marital status as divorced. The
rate of divorces in this countr has
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been and still is steadil increasing.
Gag (or funn) lead
A journalist who writes a funn stor
put up the saddest face in a
newsroom. Journalistic homour
requires the skilled and practice. Here
is how an AP reporter wrote when a
woman broke her leg tring to climb
out of a locked London public toilet:
LONDON -- What's a lad do when
trapped in a loo?
Literar allusion lead
Parallelling the construction of a
nurser rhme or part of a well-
known literar creation can add to
variet.
Mar had a little camera, and
everwhere that Mar went the
camera was sure to go.
Mar Richards' perseverance in
carring her camera on ever trip
with her anthropologist husband has
resulted in the publication of her first
book, a collection of photographs of
natives in seldom-visited areas of
South America.
Refeence
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Hohenberg, John. The Pofeional
Jonali. Ne Delhi: Oford, 1978.
Wiing fo he AP: The Second AP
Wiing Handbook. The Associated
Press, Ne York, 1959, p. 4.
journalism online
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