CHAPTER 8Writing Compelling Leads

 

 

 

CONTENTS

Introduction

The Five Ws and H Rule

The “Right” Emotion

The Eight Types of Leads

Updating the Lead

Summary

Test Your Knowledge

Exercises

KEY WORDS

Delayed Lead

Five Ws and H Rule

Hard Lead

Lead

Negative Lead

Nonnews Lead

Question Lead

Shotgun Lead

Soft Lead

Trivia Lead

Updating Leads

INTRODUCTION

Former President Ronald Reagan once opened a press conference with the infamous quote: “Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.” The actual focus of the press conference has since been largely forgotten. But Reagan’s first sentence, which served as the lead of the story, took on a new dynamic by eclipsing the story itself.

Much like that press conference, the lead ...

Get Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing, 7th Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.