Basic News Leads

1. Basic News Leads DO’S • Be specific- give the news, don’t delay it • Don’t use unfamiliar names (delayed identification) • Stress the news, the unique, the impact, the new developments • Keep concise, direct, to the point • Write in active voice- “Who did what to whom?” • Remember what makes things newsworthy (impact, controversy, conflict, prominence, etc.) in determining the lead • Use attribution to give source of information, especially if information is controversial, opinion, could be questioned or challenged, or is provocative • Attribution (giving source) adds credibility to the information • Include “where” and “what” elements in most leads • Stick with the facts of the story • People are innocent until proven guilty so use qualifying words such as “has been charged with,” “according to police” DON’TS • Avoid “label” leads- mention a topic but fail to reveal what was said or done about the topic • Avoid “agenda” leads- too much emphasis on time and place, not the real news • Don’t make leads too long, too complex-pay attention to word count, try to keep to around 20 words • Don’t cram too much detail in leads: who, what, when, where, how and why • Don’t forget to comply with Associated Press style rules • Don’t write leads that are phrases or headlines- they need to be complete sentences with little words “a,” “an,” “the” (Example: Masked robber killed by cashier as convenience store robbery goes wrong.) • Be careful with adjectives and adverbs that could be conveying (reporter’s) opinion and come across as less than objective • Don’t exaggerate, embellish or gush • Don’t misspell or use poor grammar • Don’t get the facts wrong