Finding Ledes*
The first paragraph of a news story is the lede. It is often just one sentence, but it can be two.
* (Lede is often spelled lead. The odd spelling was adopted when newspaper type was set in lead. To keep from confusing the word for the metal with the word for the beginning sentence, the spelling "lede" was used.)
The first thing you have to decide is which of the 5 W's and an H is the most important element of the story. Although "who said/did what" is often the most important angle, sometimes the who isn't important.
Example:
An outbreak of flu is expected to keep schools closed and health clinics busy, local health officials said Monday.
This lede focuses on the "what" because there's no immediate who.
The Summary Lede
It summarizes the most newsworthy elements of the story in usually one sentence.
Example:
Two Benton County men were shot Monday by a Washington County man whose home they broke into, Arkansas State Police said.
This lede answers who, what, where, when and how. The why may not be known in the first report of a crime, if ever.
Delayed or Immediate Identification
A summary lede can immediately identify the "who" or the identification may be delayed.
If the "who" of the news story is a celebrity or prominent person in the community, you will probably use the name in the lede. If the person is not widely known, you probably will delay the name and use a phrase to describe the person or organization that the story is about.
DELAYED: The example about the shooting is delayed identification (the ID will come in the second paragraph, giving the names of the two men who were shot and who shot them).
There are two reasons a delayed lede was right in the example. The first reason is that there are so many people in the lede that to name and identify them all would crowd the lede. More importantly, however, is that the "who" people are probably not well known.
IMMEDIATE: Used when the name is well known.
Example:
President George Bush said Monday he no longer plans to wage war against Iraq.
Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody fired 12 city hall workers Monday.
Multiple element lede
If several important things happened and all need to be in the lede, for instance at a meeting, a reporter might write a multiple element lede. Be sure that the lede you choose has several elements, not just several details about one event. For instance, if a man murdered someone, was on the run and was then arrested, that would not be a multiple element lede. See the example below for what such a lede is.
Example:
The Fayetteville city council voted Tuesday night to adopt a volume-based trash service, issue bonds for a new sewer plant and hire a contractor for the new library.
There are several other kinds of ledes -- ones you'll learn in your next writing course. They include suspense, character, scene-setting and narrative ledes.
Find five news story ledes from local or online newspapers, those that are examples of the following kinds of ledes.. Cut out or photocopy the lede, tape all the ledes onto a piece of paper and number them. On a separate sheet, type your analysis of each lede, telling why you think it fits the category and why you think it is a good lede or a bad one.
1. Summary delayed ID
2. Summary immediate ID
3. Multiple-element lede
4. A lede that emphasizes "where."
5. A lede that emphasizes "when."