The Lead
Reporting and Writing
Journalism and Media Studies Centre
The University of Hong Kong
Kevin Voigt
The Lead
Direct (hard news) leads usually summarize
only the most important parts of a story.
The details are left for later.
Sometimes, direct or hard-news leads may
hint at important or intriguing contents to
come in the story.
The Lead
The good hard-news lead meets two
requirements:
1) It captures the essence of the event.
2) It invites the reader into the story.
Think of leads as “bait” that determines
whether readers stay with the story.
The Lead
Leads are worth your time; reporters will
try several different drafts until they get the
one that seems perfect.
They’ll be thinking of it as they report.
Plato in The Republic: “The beginning is
the most important part of the work.”
Reporting: The 5 Ws and H
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
How?
Why?
The Lead
Good reporting helps produce good leads.
Consider this lead:
A late-morning fire in the upper floors of an
18-story housing estate in Pokfulam killed
three people yesterday.
It is perfectly okay, and quite common.
The Lead
But another reporter asked a fire official to
describe what the fire was like, and the
official used the word “blowtorch.”
A fire roared like a “blowtorch” through the
upper floors of a Pokfulam housing estate
yesterday, killing three people.
Stronger, visual, same number of words.
Direct Lead
The direct lead is the workhorse of
journalism. To decide what is the most
important part of the story, ask two
questions:
1) What was the most unique or the most
important or unusual thing that happened?
2) Who was involved: Who did it or said it?
The Lead
After answering those, ask one more:
What words will help me write the
strongest, most dramatic lead that my
material permits?
A good lead gives you a roadmap to the rest
of your story.
The Lead
Typically, but not always, the direct lead
contains four essentials:
It says something specific.
It says when the event or action happened.
It gives the source (without necessarily
identifying it in full).
It gives the place of the action (as concisely
as possible).
The Lead
Other points to remember:
Attribution can wait, sometimes.
Avoid long subsidiary clauses or titles.
Banish jargon and legalese.
Use a direct structure: S-V-O. Subject, verb
and object. (Wong [subject] hit [verb] the
man [object].)
Time element usually goes after verb.
The Lead - Summing Up
Decide the most important news.
Use strong, dramatic language -- specific
nouns, strong and/or colorful verbs.
Go to the heart of the event; give time,
source, place, but be concise.
Be accurate and truthful.
The Lead - Length
The Associated Press tells its reporters to
start cutting if their leads run beyond 20 to
25 words. To find places to cut, begin with:
Unnecessary attribution.
Compound sentences joined by but and and.
Exact dates and times unless essential.
Long titles.
The Lead -- Length (2)
Some leads, if the story is big and the writer
good, can be long:
The stock market plunged out of control
Monday in a selling panic that rivaled the
Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, pushing the
Hang Seng index average down more than
500 points, draining more than $400 billion
from the value of stocks and sending shock
waves around the world.
Good Direct Lead
Four men convicted of murdering a
German family of four in a frenzied knife
attack were executed in China yesterday
despite pleas for clemency from the
victims’ relatives.
The what was different. Concrete, dramatic,
specific language. Time. S-V-O. structure.
Good Direct Lead
A LaSalle College physics teacher and a
lab technician tipped off students about
questions to appear in an A-level exam this
year, a court heard yesterday.
The who was important. So was attribution.
S-V-O. structure.
Good Direct Lead
Jewelry tycoon Tse Sui-luen’s rags-to-
riches story entered its darkest chapter
yesterday when a High Court judge
declared the self-made company chairman
bankrupt.
Who was important. Place was important.
Imagery (a bit of a cliché, but sometimes it
can work). Time element. S-V-O. structure.
Reworking Leads
The sexual revolution has bypassed Hong
Kong, according to a survey showing many
men are still looking for passive, good-
looking women and women want a man
with a big bank balance.
Good approach, but what about this:
Reworking Leads
Men want passive beauties for mates
while women want guys with deep pockets,
a new survey says.
Reworking Leads
Apprentice jockey Philip Cheng Cheung-
tat died at the Prince of Wales Hospital last
night, 72 hours after suffering massive
injuries in a race fall at Sha Tin racecourse.
Does the job, but what about this:
Reworking Leads
After clinging to life for three days, an
apprentice jockey whose horse fell and
rolled over him during a race at Sha Tin
died last night.
Visual; introductory phrase okay in this
instance; trims details not needed in the
lead.
Reworking Leads
The head of the hospital authority
yesterday backed the body that hears
complaints from patients after it came under
fire from doctors planning to boycott
hearings.
Contains jargon – backed the body; time
element before verb.
Reworking Leads
The Hospital Authority chief voiced
support yesterday for the agency that hears
patient complaints after doctors accused it
of playing “God” and said they will boycott
its upcoming hearings.
Eliminates jargon; adds specific “God”
charge; puts time element after verb.
Reworking Leads
Director of Home Affairs Shelley Lee
Lai-kuen has blamed pressure from the
Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation for
violent scenes yesterday morning after
police seized control of an industrial
building in Tsuen Wan.
Long; unclear; heavy use of official titles
and names slows the pace.
Reworking Leads
The Home Affairs director blamed
Kowloon-Canton railway officials for
provoking property owners to violence
yesterday when police seized a building
slated for demolition in Tsuen Wan.
Clarity -- property owners, demolition. Lean
at outset. And 27 words versus 33.
Reworking Leads
There was a rush to buy pre-sales flats
at two developments yesterday despite
recent drops in the stock market and rising
oil prices.
“There was” is almost always avoidable.
Reworking Leads
The pre-sales action for flats at two
developments was feverish yesterday
despite the slumping stock market and
rising oil prices.
Stronger, quicker.
Reworking leads
There should be more frequent checks
on civil service housing benefits to prevent
the possibility of abuse, a legislator-elect
recommended yesterday.
“There should” also can almost always be
avoided.
Reworking Leads
More frequent auditing of civil service
housing benefits yesterday will prevent
abuse, a legislator-elect said yesterday.
Simple, direct, concise.
Same Story, Different Leads
Here’s how it was in one newspaper:
The deputy head of Inland Revenue was
arrested and appeared in court with her
husband yesterday over allegations she
swindled the Government out of more than
$330,000 in housing allowances.
Tight, terse and telegraphic.
Same Story, Different Leads
Here’s how in another:
Deputy Commissioner of Inland
Revenue Agnes Sin Law Yuk-lin and her
husband appeared in the Eastern Magistracy
yesterday to face charges that they deceived
the government into paying them more than
$335,000 in housing allowances in the
1980s.
Heavy at the outset; 8 words longer.
A Lead Contest
Which one is better?
The Airport Authority’s acting chief
executive was axed yesterday to make way
for new blood after he failed to win an
internal struggle to retain his position.
A Lead Contest
The Airport Authority has appointed a
businessman with no airport management
experience as its next chief executive
officer. He will replace Bill Lam Chung-
lun, who was seconded from the
Government by Chief Secretary for
Administration Anson Chan Fang On-Sang
in January 1998.
A Lead Contest
No contest.:
The Airport Authority’s acting chief
executive was axed yesterday to make way
for new blood after he failed to win an
internal struggle to retain his position.
Summing up a good direct lead:
A lead that gives the most important point.
A lead that is concrete, specific, concise,
active and visual.
A lead that is accurate, honest and readable.
A lead that takes you into the story.