Lectured Intro to Broadcasting students at City College in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

1. CHAPTER 5: LEADS
Week 5

2. CHAPTER 5: LEADS
It is always the __________
sentence.
Sometimes it includes the first
_______ sentences.
You must grab the view’s attention
in the__________________

3. WHAT MAKES A GOOD LEAD SENTENCE?
Has a sense of ______________
The news wants ________attention.
The lead is the _______that gets the
attention of the audience.
It must be ______, and to the point.

4. NEWSWORTHY
 There are ________criteria for determining what is
________________.

5. NEWSWORTHY
1. _____________– The significance of an event.
A teenager is dead after a head-on collision
shortly after midnight last night.
2. Interest - - Facts and occurrences that are
important to _____ personally and not necessarily
___________ else.
Nicki Minaj is coming to S. Fla. And giving a free
concert at Bayfront Park.

6. NEWSWORTHY CONT’D
3. ___________- Conflict is one element most
observed in today’s society. The clashing of
ideologies making headlines worldwide.
From porn star to the White House? A Hollywood
actress is vying for a house of representative
spot for the sunshine state.
4. The unusual – The_______, the unusual, the
unexpected often make_____. In journalism, oddity is
defined as the "man bites dog" formula.
A senior citizen fights back her attacker and wins
after a teenager tries to steal her Prada
handbag.

7. NEWSWORTHY CONT’D
5. Proximity – News that _______ you. It’s in your
hometown.
6. __________-Reporting something that has just
happened or is about to _______. Time is a strong
ingredient, "today, yesterday, early this morning,
tomorrow." The _________of the occurrence makes
up "immediacy" in the news.
 _____________ angle- an updated slant on the story. It’s a
continuation of a story.
 Day 1 / The plane crashed. Everyone on-board died. Day 2 /
What caused the crash? Day 3 / How can we prevent this?

8. NEW WRITERS MUST DO 2 THINGS:
Look at all the ____________
Determine what is _____________ to
create an intriguing lead.

9. LEADS: PITFALLS TO AVOID IN A LEAD
Details
Kitchen-sink lead
A useless lead sentence.
Avoid these.

10. LEAD PITFALLS
 ____________________
 Never start off with a person’s name.
 Exception, the person is well-known.

11. LEAD PITFALLS
Ages
Save this info ______________of the
story, not the ___________.

12. LEAD PITFALLS
_______________
You will almost never include this in
the lead.
You can; however, include this detail in
the _________of the story.

13. LEAD PITFALLS
 The ordinary
 Don’t lead with _________that don’t tell the listener
____________.
 i.e. The City Council met last night at City Hall.
 Avoid overuse of today, or yesterday in the lead.
 500 people voted today.

14. GOOD LEADS
 Punch
 The lead must contain the most intriguing
________and must be written in the most intriguing
_______ possible.
 i.e. the price of gas is going up this weekend across
the nation.

15. GOOD LEADS
______________
The lead not only must _______ the
audience’s attention; they must
prepare the audience for the facts to
come.

16. LEAD TYPES
Soft leads
 Taking a ______ approach, as opposed to loading
the audience with a barrage of ______.
 Sometimes a _____lead is too difficult for the
______ to grasp.
 In broadcasting, a _______lead is generally
preferred over a hard news lead.
 Basically, you are limiting the information you are
giving the audience to just _____ concepts.
 i.e. the administration has done a little tinkering with
its anti-inflammatory machinery.

17. HARD LEADS
 Newspaper style includes the 5 W’s of reporting.
 Who
 What
 __________
 Where
 ____________

18. THE SET-UP
Prepare the listener’s for what you are
going to___________, and then say it.

19. TYPES OF LEADS
Function is to intrigue listener’s
and get them ___________ for
the information to follow.
__________Main Categories of
leads:

20. CATEGORIES OF LEADS
1. ______________
You give the audience the most important facts of the
story.
2. Umbrellas
You use this lead when the story has more than
_____ main point, and you need to cover ____
those points in the __________.
You also use this lead when you tie together
more than _________ story.
 Several tornadoes strike the Southwest….we begin our
coverage in Texas…..

21. CATEGORIES OF LEADS
3. Delays
In this type of lead you don’t ______right into the main
point.
However, you must still introduce the _______of the story
to not mislead your audience.
This is often used for ________stories.
These lead add a touch of extra ___________.
 A young man jumped off the Brooklyn early this morning…
4. Statements
Used when someone _____________ gives a statement to
the media.
It is not necessary to use the statement as a _________
quote.
You also do not need to _________in the first sentence.
(this takes place in the second sentence of your story).

22. CATEGORIES OF LEADS
5. _________________
Use question leads sparingly. With a question lead
you are simply asking your viewers something that
may already be on their___________.
 How much will that new hybrid car cost?
6. Humor
 Never use for an obit, ___________, serious crime,
accident or _________ of any kind.
 Humor, when used effectively in a lead will ______ the
audience’s attention.
Altos is being invaded by little green people today.
(A girl scout convention is in town).