REMEMBER THAT TOMORROW YOU HAVE A QUIZ ON 10 OF THE 24 QUESTIONS BELOW. THIS WILL COUNT AS A HOMEWORK GRADE.
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For those of you who have already sent along the assignment, you might want to check out this article on sneakers:
Dunks, Pumps and Yeezys: How sneakers changed the world
We are working on the fundamentals of how to write a news story. Please read the above picture to anchor yourself. In order for you to write an effective news story, you must have an understanding of how to write a lead. Below you will find detailed information.
So that you read carefully- and to emphasize the salient points of lead writing- please respond to the following questions. You, of course, may copy and paste as you read. This is due by the close of class on Monday, unless you receive the extended time.
Note that this material is essential in understanding how YOU will be assessed in writing your own news story. ON TUESDAY, you will have quiz on ten of the following questions.
News leads questions:
1. Write two words that rhyme with the correct pronunciation of lead.
2. How long is a lead?
3. What is a typical lead called?
4. What is the purpose of a lead?
5. What are the two parts of a news story?
6. What is the function of the body of the story?
7. How is the body of a story constructed?
8. List the 5 Ws and the H.
9. Which of the above should ideally be addressed in the lead?
10. What is a news peg?
11. What is a whammy?
12. What does it mean to "feature the feature"?
13. What types of nouns and verbs should a lead have?
14. How many words should one find in a lead?
15. Name three things not found in a lead.
16. For the most part, how many sentences should one find in a lead?
17. How does one determine what is featured in the lead?
18. What does a name lead feature?
19. What does an event lead feature?
20. What type of voice requires that the subject of the sentence act?
21. What does a cause lead feature?
22. What does a place lead feature?
23. What are the two most used opening features for leads?
24. What are the two least used features for leads?
Lead Writing The opening of a news story is called the lead (pronounced lede). It is usually one paragraph, and is usually only one sentence. The typical lead is called a summary lead or straight summary lead, and it, of course, summarizes the story; in other words, it tells the entire story in miniature as specifically as possible. Your job as a journalist, therefore, is to write a clear, fairly short sentence that reveals all, telling the end result of the story. Someone should be able to read the lead and be informed about what happened without reading the rest of the story. A news story essentially has two parts, the lead, which gives the gist of the story, and the body, which adds details and expands on information given in the lead. The body is written in inverted pyramid style: short paragraphs in descending order of importance.We'll be analyzing news stories for their inverted pyramid style. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The All-Important Lead
FEATURE THE FEATURE Depending on what you decide is most important, any one of the 5W's or H could be featured, which means it is placed first in the opening sentence. Take a look at the follow facts:
The lead might read: A Washington television station announced its withdrawal today from a project to construct a 1,200-foot television transmitting tower in Silver Spring.
The most used openings for leads are the who and the what. The least used, in other words the weakest, are where and when. Rarely are place and time the most important aspects of the story, although they are usually included in the lead paragraph.
Who Many gay and bisexual teens know plenty about AIDS and still don't protect themselves against the disease, two studies indicate. A railroad worker threw a switch too soon and sent an Amtrak passenger train crashing head-on into a parked freight train, killing two people and injuring 44 others, investigators said Saturday. (However, even though this begins with the who, the lead co-features the why, the cause of the train wreck.) What Why With more amateurs cutting wood for use as an alternative to high-priced heating oil, hospitals are coping with an increasing number of injuries due to chain-saw accidents, reported the American College of Surgeons. Two railway technicians who overlooked a wheel problem may be charged with negligent manslaughter in Germany's worst rail disaster, a news magazine reported Saturday. (This also CO-features the who.)How We can learn how to feature the feature, and avoid other mistakes, by looking at examples of poorly written leads. WHAT NOT TO DO.
NOT TO DO
Incorrect: Sen. Robert Brown spoke to the assembled student body of Oakdale High School at 3 p.m. in the high school gym. Who spoke is usually secondary in importance to what was said. And, the mechanical details -- time, date and place -- do not necessarily have to be included in the lead, since the event has already taken place. They can be worked in later, perhaps the second or third paragraph. "Assembled student body" is a burdensome, unnecessary phrase, and "high school" is used twice in one paragraph. Avoid repetition. Incorrect: At 3 p.m., March 18, in the high school gym, Robert Brown spoke. Time and date (the when angle) are almost never important enough to merit first consideration in the lead, yet they are often used to kick off a speech story. The heart of this story is not included in the lead at all. Note, too, that in this reference the title for Robert Brown (senator) has been omitted. Titles should always be included on the first mention of an individual in the story. Incorrect: To further our interest in ecology, Sen. Robert Brown spoke today in the high school gym. The why angle is usually not the most important aspect of a story and, therefore, it seldom works as the take-off point for a news story. Also, the use of second person (our), unless it's in a direct quotation, should be avoided in news writing. Incorrect: Last Friday, March 18, all of the sophomore, junior and senior students assembled in the gymnasium. After Student Body President Gary Winchman led the students in the flag salute, Vice Principal Barry Jones presented Sen. Robert Brown, who talked about ecology. This is filled to the brim with details that don't belong in a lead. It is basically written in chronological order rather than focusing on the "feature." It is dull, too long, and needs severe copy editing. In fact, it needs complete rewriting. It is also more than one sentence; most leads can be written as one smooth, flowing sentence. Incorrect: "We must clean up our rivers and streams and get the internal combustion machine out of the automobile and sit hard on the Food and Drug Administration to remove additives from our foods if we are ever going to clean up the air we breath and make our world a pleasant place to live in again," stated Robert Brown, senator, to the assembled student body of Oakdale High School on Friday, March 18, in the gym at 3 p.m. The quotation is too long, covers too many subjects for the lead. In addition, mechanical details such as date and time, can be worked in later. Since the event has already happened it is not necessary to tell the readers the place and exact time in the lead. "Stated" is a stuffy, greatly over-used word for attribution. Save it for quoting material from official documents rather than people. Correct Example: Pollution must be stopped and air and water cleaned up in order to make the world more livable, Sen. Robert Brown told students at Oakdale High School last Friday. This lead zeroes in on the main message delivered, which is what the audience would be interested in, and it gives the source at the end of the lead rather than at the beginning. Since Brown's exact words are not given, no quotation marks are used. Correct if writing for your school newspaper and Brown spoke at your school: Pollution must be stopped and air and water cleaned up in order to make the world more livable, Sen. Robert Brown told students last Friday. It is not necessary to give the name of the high school, since he spoke at the school and the newspaper is written for and distributed to the school community. Notice that this lead summarizes or paraphrases what the senator said rather than giving a direct quotation. The story would then elaborate on what he had to say about these topics, using direct quotations, indirect quotations and paraphrases. (But that's a topic for another day. |
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