Basic News Leads

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Basic News Leads

• DOS
• Be specific- give the news, dont delay it
• Dont 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

• DONTS
• 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
• Dont make leads too long, too complex-pay
  attention to word count, try to keep to around 20
  words
• Dont cram too much detail in leads who, what,
  when, where, how and why
• Dont forget to comply with Associated Press
  style rules
• Dont 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 (reporters) opinion and come across
  as less than objective
• Dont exaggerate, embellish or gush
• Dont misspell or use poor grammar
• Dont get the facts wrong