Here is a draft lead for a fire story: Flames engulfed a three-story apartment building in downtown Chicago last night, forcing over 100 residents to evacuate as firefighters battled the massive blaze for over four hours before bringing it under control.

1. News in the 20th Century

Why has the power of print faded?

First radio, TV, now Internet

News is more accessible, engaging than ever
before

Advertisers, readers have moved to the web

Loss of revenue, lower circulation, lower
readership among young people

Corporate ownership

2. Solutions

Raise prices

Charge for on-line access

Charge aggregators like Google, Yahoo

Find benefactor

Become a consortium

Government bailout

Stop publishing

3. What is news?
News usually contains at least one of the following:
Impact: Does the story matter to readers?
Will it effect their lives or their pocket books
Immediacy: Has the story just happened?
Proximity: How close is the story?
Prominence? Does the story involve a well-known public figure?
Novelty: Is something new, odd or surprising going on?
Conflict: Is there a clash of power?
Emotions: Does this story make us sad, happy, angry?

4. Types of News

Hard News. Serious and timely. It deals with topics and events,
such as crime, politics, economics, and war, along with certain
aspects of law, science, and technology.

Feature/Soft News. These are stories are about people and
things that interest people. They are not timely and try to bring a
fresh perspective to ordinary stories. May or may not be about
serious topics.

5. Types of News - Examples

Examples
http://buswk.co/ogPVLF
http://usat.ly/qfOq5j
http://bit.ly/r45fgs
http://bit.ly/oVtA9d
http://bit.ly/oDrDZ2

6. So where do Opinions Belong in
Journalism?

Opinion & Editorial pages. The editorial page is where the
newspaper sets aside its objective news-gathering role to
explain, applaud or champion an important issue of the day.
Letters to the editor from readers also are run on this page.
Editorials may also be in the form of cartoons. The page
opposite this page is called the opinions page and frequently
contains opinion pieces by columnists that can be partisan and
passionate.

In TV or radio, opinions pieces are known as commentary.

7. Story structure
The Inverted Pyramid
The inverted pyramid is news writing format in which the most
important facts are presented in descending order of
importance.

Advantages: (a) It condenses information efficiently so readers
can grasp facts quickly, and (b) it allows editors to trim stories
from the bottom.

Disadvantages: (a) It gets repetitive, and (b) it doesn't always
organize the story material logically or engagingly.

8. The Journalism Formula
The facts of a story fall into these main groups:
(The five W's & H)

Who: Who's involved? Who's affected? Who's getting screwed?

What: What happened? What's going up?

When: When did it happen? When will it happen?

Where: Where will they build the new airport? Where were five
children found decapitated?

Why: Why is the new law necessary?

How: How will this plan work? How did the prisoner escape?

Exercise

9. Story Structure
The Basic Lead

It's the essence of journalism: the key facts told in the most
concise way. Summarizes the story's most important facts.
Usually contains the 5 W's and H. Grabs reader or viewers
attention. Most use fewer than 25 words.

EXAMPLES
http://trib.in/pP6Say
http://trib.in/p6YmR7
http://trib.in/nNL98j
http://bit.ly/qir1Ud

10. How to Write an Effective Lead?

Be concise. Streamline your ideas, sentences. Thinks subject-
verb-object.

Be accurate. Get your facts and spelling right.

Don't name names. Don't say John Smith was hit by a bus,
unless everyone know who John Smith is.

Use strong verbs. Instead of saying a man was killed, think
active, not passive voice: A bus struck and killed an elderly man
Monday night.

Ask “Why do I care?” Write from reader's point of view. Try to
explain things.

Sell the story. Find out what makes this story different or
special. Use that to punch up the lead.

11. Lead Writing Exercise
Writing a lead for a fire story.