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1. 9/22/23
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Choose the word or phrase that makes each story
most newsworthy to readers.
1. An earthquake struck _______ today, killing at least 50.
a) Tokyo b) London
2. The office of _________ was evacuated today after a clerk opened a
letter believed to contain anthrax.
a) Oprah Winfrey b) the British ambassador to Egypt
3. Police arrested 20 suspected terrorists in downtown Toronto today
__________.
a) after intercepting suspicious e-mail messages
b) after a three-hour gun battle
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Choose the word or phrase that makes each story
most newsworthy to readers.
4. _______ is being treated at a local hospital.
a) The governor’s son b) A covid-19 patient
5. A local policeman died last weekend after __________.
a) his plane crashed in the Alaska wilderness.
b) he tried to rescue a young boy from drowning.
6. A drunk driver was killed after his car hit a tree _______.
a) on New Year’s Eve b) on the way to his 100th birthday party
7. Convicted double murderer Arthur Itis escaped from prison __________.
a) one year ago today b) last night
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2. 9/22/23
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Just the facts
• When you write a story, you must try to be objective, Truthful, Fair.
You can’t just pull material from your memory, or quote your friends, or
make pronouncements about the way things ought to be. You must be
factual. Good reporters respect the integrity of facts. When you select
them carefully and arrange them skillfully, you can communicate
without inserting your own opinions.
The Blur Between Facts and Opinions in the Media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcuLq0O2GP8
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Exercise: Let’s Revise this News Story
Campus vegetarians will hold a puke-in at Turkle Hall Friday to protest the
dormitory’s unhealthy food policies. All students are encouraged to attend.
“The menu in that dorm is just meat, meat, meat,” said Ben Dover, the highly
respected president of Vegetarians Opposed to Meat in Turkel (VOMIT). “That’s
why so many Turkle residents have been getting sick this year.”
According to Dover, Turkle’s 200 residents were fed more than 160,000 hamburgers
last year while eating just 1,000 pounds of carrots. In other words, a typical student
ate just one carrot for every 160 burgers.
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3. 9/22/23
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Let’s Revise this news story
Research has shown that a diet heavy in meat is bad for you. In Japan, where rice is
a staple in people’s diets, there is a much lower incidence of cancer. My own health
has improved dramatically since I stopped eating meat last year.
Even spiritual masters like Gandhi and the Buddha proved that a vegetarian lifestyle
brings you closer to God.
The event begins at noon Friday, June 31, outside the Turkle Hall cafeteria.
• Advice from a working journalist
https://youtu.be/aj8J2D73SsQ
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Writing the story: the lead
and story structure
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4. 9/22/23
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The Lead
Lead:
• The beginning of a news story
• A simple, clear statement consisting of the first paragraph or two of a
news story
• The lead gives the reader the sense of the story to follow.
• Capture attention and to draw the reader, listener, or viewer into the
story.
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Example of a lead and a story
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- The performance video of BLACKPINK
member Lisa's solo song "Money" has exceeded 900 million views on
YouTube, her management agency YG Entertainment said Tuesday.
"Money" is a track on Lisa's first single album, "LALISA," released in
September 2021. The hip-hop song made an entry on Billboard's Hot 100
and British Official Singles Chart Top 100 upon its debut.
It is the eighth video by the K-pop quartet that has garnered over 900
million views on YouTube, including "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" (2.1 billion), "Kill
This Love" (1.8 billion) and "Boombayah" (1.6 billion).
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5. 9/22/23
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Two basic types of leads
• Direct (hard)
• This lead tells the reader or listener the most important aspect of the story at
once.
• Most commonly used in straight news stories
• It normally does not exceed 35 words.
• Delayed(soft)
• This lead entices the reader or listener into the story by hinting at its
contents.
• It usually is used for features.
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Examples of Leads
• A hard lead
Former rebel leader Joshua Smith was elected prime minister tonight,
winning more than 80 percent of the vote in the country’s first democratic
election since 1993.
• A soft lead
Growing up in Youngtown, Joshua Smith was a little boy with big dreams.
Always small for his age, he says the bigger boys at school bullied him. When
he told his grammar school teacher he’d be prime minister some day, she
laughed.
No one is laughing now. Smith won yesterday’s election with more than 80
percent of the vote, becoming the country’s first democratically elected
leader since 1993.
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6. 9/22/23
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Example of a straight news story
Thieves Get 36 Batteries
Thieves who entered a Charlotte auto parts store stole 36 Delco
batteries, police told yesterday.
Crowell Erskine, 49, manager of the Piedmont Auto Exchange at 410
Atando Ave., told officers the store was broken into between 5 p.m.
Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday by thieves knocking a hole in the rear
wall of the one-story brick building.
Erskine said the batteries were valued at $539.18.
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Direct leads usually contain
• Specific information about what happened or what was said.
• When the event occurred.
• The location of the event.
• The source of the information.
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7. 9/22/23
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The structure of the Lead
• The Five W’s and an H
• The most important element always forms the basic idea for the lead.
• To find that basic element, the reporter anticipates the questions the reader will ask and then
answers them. These questions have been summarized as who, what, when, where, why, and
how —the Five W’s and an H.
• Who is the story about? or Who is involved?
• What is the story about? or What happened?
• When did the event take place?
• Where did the event take place?
• Why is this happening? Is it an isolated case or part of a trend?
• How did this happen? How did the journalist get this information?
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Find 5W and 1H from the lead
Survey: More than 1 in 5 female undergrads at top schools suffer
sexual attacks
By Nick Anderson, September 21, 2015
More than 20 percent of female undergraduates at an array of
prominent universities said this year that they were victims of sexual
assault and misconduct, echoing findings elsewhere, according to one
of the largest studies ever of college sexual violence.
The survey from the Association of American Universities drew
responses from 150,000 students at 27 schools, including most of the
Ivy League. Armed with extensive data on the scope of the problem at
their own campuses, leaders of big-name universities said they are
mobilizing to confront sexual assault as never before.
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8. 9/22/23
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S-V-O
• The basic construction of the lead should be subject-verb-object, S-V-O.
• The S-V-O structure has an internal imperative: It directs the reporter to write
simple sentences, sentences with one main clause. This kind of construction keeps
leads short, another major requirement for a readable beginning.
• A direct lead using the S-V-O structure:
SAN FRANCISCO—A federal judge has ordered the City of San Francisco to hire 60
women patrol officers within the next 32 weeks.
• S=judge V=has ordered O=San Francisco
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How to write an effective news lead
COLLECT ALL YOUR FACTS
• This is essential, for two reasons:
If you don’t know the whole story, your lead can’t accurately summarize what’s
going on.
The more you know about the story, the easier it will be for you to sum it up.
SUM IT UP, BOIL IT DOWN
• If you had just 10 seconds to shout your story over a cell phone with
dying batteries, what would you say? If it helps you organize your
thinking, write down five W’s and an H.
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9. 9/22/23
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How to write an effective news lead
• PRIORITIZE THE FIVE W’s and ONE H’s
The lead needs to contain the facts that are most important — and only those facts that
are most important. So evaluate each of the five W’s and one H’s. Ask yourself: Which
facts must be in the lead? Which can wait a paragraph or two? And which of the key facts
deserves to start the first sentence?
• RETHINK, REVISE, REWRITE
Write a first draft, even if it’s not perfect, just to get things rolling. Then ask yourself:
• Is it clear? Are the key points easy to grasp? Is the wording awkward in any way?
• Is it active? Have you used a strong subject-verb-object sentence structure?
• Is it wordy? Do readers trip over any unnecessary adjectives or phrases?
• Is it compelling? Will it grab readers and keep them interested?
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Exercise together: Write a Lead
“9-1-1 call center.”
“FIRE!” a voice at the other end yells.
“Where?” the dispatcher asks.
“At 1705 W. Haven St.”
Who? The owner, a smoker, Henry Smith, 29.
What? Fire caused damage estimated by the fire chief at $2,500.
Where? 1705 W. Haven St.
When? The call was received at 10:55 p.m., Tuesday. Firefighters from Station 19 arrived at the
scene at 11:04. The fire was extinguished by 11:30.
Why? The fire was started by carelessness on the part of Smith, according to Fire Chief Bill Malone.
How? Smith told fire officials that he fell asleep in bed while he was smoking a cigarette.
More supporting information
» This was the eighth fire this year caused by smoking in bed.
» All last year there were four such fires.
» Smith said he had insurance.
» The fire chief said no charges would be filed against Smith.
» It was the first fire at this house. » Smith was not injured
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10. 9/22/23
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Exercise on your own: Write a Lead
The committee said the Gaya Tumuli is estimated to possess "outstanding universal value" as
material evidence of a rare political structure that maintained autonomy and a horizontal relationship
with neighboring countries, and shows the diversity of ancient civilizations in East Asia.
The decision was made during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Riyadh on
Sunday (Saudi local time).
Earlier, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a cultural heritage evaluation
advisory organization under UNESCO, recommended the inscription of the South Korean entry in
May. Heritage sites that receive recommendations from the advisory body typically win final
approvals from the committee with very few exceptions.
……
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Let’s Revise this article: the case of “Burying the Lead”
The local United Way Campaign today issued its second weekly report in its current
campaign to raise $750,000 for next year’s activities.
Tony Davis, the campaign chairman, said that donations in the first two weeks had
exceeded last year’s fund-raising at a similar time.
“We’ve collected $350,000, and that’s about $25,000 ahead of last year,” Davis
said. “Thanks to the work of our downtown volunteers, the local merchants have
been canvassed more thoroughly than ever before, and their gifts have been very
generous.”
The month-long drive seeks funds for 28 local organizations, including the Big
Brothers, Senior Citizens House and a new program to aid crippled children.
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11. 9/22/23
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Revised Lead
• The United Way Campaign to raise $750,000 is running ahead of last
year’s drive at the midway point.
• Tony Davis, the campaign chairman, said today that in the first two
weeks of the month-long fund drive, $350,000 had been collected.
• That is $25,000 ahead of last year’s collections at this time. “Thanks
to the work of our downtown volunteers, the local merchants have
been . . .”
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Lively Leads: Direct leads need not be dry and dull
Typical Direct Lead
Two veteran motion picture industry executives were chosen today by
the board of Walt Disney Productions to head the troubled company a
mouse built.
Beyond basic and dry leads
Strong winds combined lethally with a fire in a Queens high-rise
building yesterday, creating a “blowtorch” that roared through an
apartment building and into a hallway, killing three people and injuring
22.
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12. 9/22/23
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News Story Structure
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Story structure
• All stories have a structure.
• Without a structure, stories would be a jumble of facts with nothing
to hold them together. Structure is essential for stories to be
understandable and meaningful, but not all stories should be
structured in the same way. Good writers choose the most suitable
shape for the story they are telling.
• Inverted Pyramid
• Hourglass
• Diamond
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13. 9/22/23
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Inverted Pyramid
• Put the most important
information at the top, followed
by other information in
descending order of importance.
• Useful when reporting important
or breaking news, when
timeliness is of the essence.
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Example of Inverted Pyramid
VIENNA, Austria — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is getting a birthday gift
from his home country: a stamp in his honor.
The Austrian post office announced on its Web site that the $1.25 stamp will be
released on the actor-turned-politician’s birthday, July 30. Schwarzenegger, who
will be 57, was born in the Austrian village of Thal near the southern city of Graz.
The stamp — which shows Schwarzenegger in a suit and tie, with the U.S. and
Austrian flags in the background — is part of a collectors series called “Austrians
living abroad,” the post office said.
Schwarzenegger moved to the United States in 1968 to pursue a career as a body
builder and movie star. He made his first visit to Austria as California governor last
weekend, when he represented the United States at the state
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14. 9/22/23
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How to write the inverted-pyramid structure story
• THE CHRONOLOGICAL STORY
On Sept. 20, Pete Moss bought some marijuana from Lynn C. Doyle.
Moss’s dog bit Doyle in the leg during the transaction. So Doyle
grabbed a shotgun and killed Moss’s dog. Moss was furious. He got in
his car, chased Doyle into an alley and crushed him against a Dumpster.
Doyle died. The next day, Moss confessed to police that he had run
Doyle over. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Yesterday, Moss pleaded guilty in court. The judge sentenced him to 10
years in prison. On his way to Jackson State Prison, Moss leaped from a
police van and escaped. A search is under way.
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How to write the inverted-pyramid structure story
• THE INVERTED PYRAMID STORY
A search is under way for a criminal who leaped from a police van
outside of Jackson State Prison yesterday.
After pleading guilty to second-degree murder in court, Pete Moss was
on his way to begin serving a 10-year sentence when he escaped.
Moss had been arrested Sept. 21 after confessing to killing Lynn C.
Doyle by running him over in an alley with his car. Moss admitted he
had been furious with Doyle for shooting Moss’s dog during a
marijuana deal.
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15. 9/22/23
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Hourglass
• A modified form of the inverted pyramid is
known as the “hourglass” structure.
• It begins, in a similar fashion, with the most
important information — but after a few
paragraphs it takes a turn and becomes a
narrative, usually told in chronological order.
• This kind of story form requires a clear transition
between the opening section and the narrative.
• Some stories are written in a purely
chronological form
• This structure is most often used for features.
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Diamond
• A reporter using this structure would begin with an
anecdote, introducing a character whose experience
illustrates what the story is all about.
• This small story would then broaden out to show its
wider significance.
• Toward the end, the reporter would return to the
individual character’s story as a way of concluding the
narrative.
• The diamond form is frequently used in television
news and newspaper reports.
• For example, a reporter might begin a story about a
new AIDS treatment by introducing a patient who
needs the treatment, then describe the experimental
drug and how it works, and conclude by noting that
doctors give the patient we met earlier only a limited
time to live if the new treatment is not effective.
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