Print story structure: Good reporting equals good leads

Introduction
Length: More than 700 words up to 1000 words.
Multimedia elements: Insert at least three. Photos, Maps or Graphics.
Structure: Inverted pyramid. Typically, start with a lede, followed by a story, back up by other
information, history, stats or more anecdotes.

What is lede?
The most important part of a news story. With so many sources of information, audiences are not willing
to read beyond the first paragraph of a story unless it grabs their interest. A good lede presents the most
important information in a clear, concise and interesting manner. It also establishes the tone and direction
of an article.
Tips for Writing a Lead

The Five Ws and H: Before writing a lead, decide which aspect of the story who, what, when,
where, why, how is most important. You should emphasize those aspects in your lead. Wait to
explain less important aspects until the second or third sentence. But you dont have to include all
six.

Leads are often one sentence, sometimes two. Generally, they are 25 to 30 words and should
rarely be more than 40. This is somewhat arbitrary, but its important to learn how to deliver
information concisely.

Active sentences: Strong verbs will make your lead lively and interesting. Passive constructions,
on the other hand, can sound dull and leave out important information, such as the person or thing
that caused the action. Incomplete reporting is often a source of passive leads.

Honesty: A lead is an implicit promise to your readers. You must be able to deliver.

What to Avoid

Flowery language: Dont use too many adverbs and adjectives in their leads. Concentrate instead on using
strong verbs and nouns.
Unnecessary words or phrases: Watch out for unintentional redundancy and clich.
Formulaic leads: Because a lot of news writing is done on deadline, the temptation to write tired leads is
strong. Resist it. Readers want information, but they also want to be entertained.
Types of Leads
Direct lede (Summary lead): This is perhaps the most traditional lead in news writing. It is often used
for breaking news. It is just the facts approach. Straight news leads tend to provide answers to the most
important three or four of the Five Ws and H.
Delayed lede (Anecdotal lead): Sometimes, beginning a story with a quick anecdote can draw in readers.
The anecdote must be interesting and must closely illustrate the articles broader point. If you use this
approach, the broader significance of the anecdote should be explained within the first few sentences
following the lead.
Other types of leads: A large number of other approaches exist.
Exercise: This is a story about a hostage situation. Here are your five Ws and H:
Who six people, one gunman
What the gunman held six people hostage in a restaurant for two hours before surrendering to police
Where at Billy Bob's Barbecue Joint
When last night
Why the gunman tried robbing the restaurant but police arrived before he could escape
How he ordered the six people into the kitchen
Examples (Columbia Journalism School)
Direct lede basics
-The House of Representatives voted today to impeach President Clinton.
-Another in a series of snowstorms is expected to hit the Sierra today.
-The California Supreme Court ruled today that newspapers and television stations can be held liable for
news-gathering techniques that intrude on privacy.
-A local couple was awarded $150,000 in damages yesterday in Butte County Court for injuries they
suffered in a traffic accident last March.
Direct lede with livelihood.
Two veteran motion picture industry executives were chosen today by the board of Walt Disney
Productions to head the troubled company.
A late-morning fire in the upper floors of an 18-story apartment building in the Lefrak city
project in Elmhurst, Queens, killed three people Thursday, the Fire Department said.

Delayed lede examples (The delayed lead usually sets a scene or evokes a mood with an incident,
anecdote or example. Features, profiles, investigative reporting, series usually take delayed leads)
Start with introducing a character. Here is a delayed lead on a feature about a man who runs a
demolition company. It was written by AP Newsfeatures writer Sid Moody:
Jack Loizeaux is a dentist of urban decay, a Mozart of dynamite, a guru of gravity. Like Joshua,
he blows and the walls come tumbling down.
Start with introducing main characters action. Here is how an investigative reporter for the
Chicago Tribune began a series of articles exposing corruption in Chicago's ambulance services:
They are the misery merchants and they prowl the streets of our city 24 hours a day as profiteers
of human suffering.
Comparison of delayed ledes:
(AP) Frank Sinatra, the dashing teen idol who matured into the premier romantic balladeer of
American popular music and the Chairman of the Board to his millions of fans, died Thursday
night of a heart attack. He was 82.
Here is how U.S. News & World Report (magazine) began its long piece on the same story:
He had a temper so combustible that he once ejected Lana Turner and Ava Gardner from his
Palm Springs house, screaming "Out, out, out!" and then hurling Gardner's cosmetics, clothes and
records into the driveway. His buddies included mobsters and thugs, and he divided the world,
Sicilian style, into friends-recipients of lavish gifts and enemies. Face to face, the blue eyes could
drill through you, and he could be unpredictable, foul-mouthed and crude, taking swings at
anyone who got in his way.
Other types (of delayed lead)
1. Short Sentence Lead
This lead uses one word or a short phrase as a teaser for the rest of the lead. Readers may find this
gimmicky, so use this approach sparingly. Here's an example:
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.
2. Analogy Lead
This lead makes a comparison between an issue or event you're writing about and something
more familiar to the average reader. This approach can work well when you have a complex or
foreign matter you want to explain in laymen's terms. Consider:
The Netherlands is considering anti-terrorism laws that make the United States' Patriot Act look
like a civil libertarian's dream come true.
3. Scenic Lead

This lead begins with a description of the scene surrounding an event. This is probably a safe lede
for most of the stories, although it is typically used for stories in which the setting is prominent,
such as stories about festive events, performances and sports. It can also be used to strike a mood
appropriate for the story.
The lights shine down and the music surrounds her as she spins across the stage into the arms of
her partner. The audience roars its approval as the music slows and the curtains begin to close.
It's the end of just another workday for teenager Chelsea Rittenhouse.
At 18, the Howell resident is the youngest member of the New York Theater Ballet, which
describes itself as the most widely seen chamber ballet company in the United States. The
professional group also tours abroad.
4. Storytelling Lead
Using a narrative style, begin with a characters action or speaking.
"Get on the ground," a man holding a gun screamed. "I'll blow your heads off if you move."
Dennis Grehl and a co-worker complied. Dreamlike, he found himself lying face down on a cold,
gritty black-tile floor, a pistol against the back of his head.
Please, mister, don't make me shoot you," a second gunman threatened.
A crazy memory: tiny specks of light floating in the tile; that, and the paralyzing weight of
helplessness.
Mr. Grehl is a pharmacist, unassuming, mild mannered. A family man with a wife and a daughter.
He was being robbed.
5. Amazing Fact or Opposite Lead
Open with an amazing fact that arouses readers interest, such as:
Sixty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. war in Iraq, the highest number since polling on the
subject began with the commencement of the war in March 2003, according to poll results and
trends released Wednesday. (CNN)
Or, open with a debate about facts
Facebook rots the brain, according to a report by a Stansbury University psychology professor.
Jim Wallace, honors student and an avid user of the popular website, says that just isn't true.
Examples of inverted pyramid structure.
1. Traditional

2. Revised
If you are doing a feature story, you might want it to be more narrative. In the so-called Kabob format, the
story begins with an anecdote about a specific person. Immediately after this, be sure to include a nut
graph -- a paragraph that summarizes the story idea and the who, what, when, where, why and how. After
this, then story broadens into a general discussion of the topic. It ends by returning to that specific person
again and concluding with another anecdote or quote.
"Think of it as arranging meat and veggies on a shish kabob skewer," explains Tim Harrower, a journalist
at The (Portland) Oregonian. "Start with a juicy red tomato -- an anecdote. Follow with a nut graph. Then
add meat -- chunk after chunk after chunk -- until you reach the end, where you reprise with another
tomato -- a final quote or anecdote."
Beyond this, there are many other ways a story can be organized. There is no simple, one-size-fits-all
solution for organizing stories. Every story unfolds in a different way. But there's nothing random about
good writing. Every story needs a beginning, middle and end.