What is a lead?

A lead is an opening paragraph that gives the audience the most important information of the
news story in a concise and clear manner, while still maintaining the readers' interest. If a reader
does not read beyond your first paragraph, they should still have an idea of what your article is
about and the most important information from that article. There are many different strategies
for writing a good lead as well as many differing opinions, but the strongest opinion is that they
are hard and take time. Don't plan on rushing a good lead.

The lead is the opening paragraph or sentence of an article, designed to capture readers’ attention
and entice them to continue reading. A well-crafted lead sets the tone for the rest of your writing
and serves as a guide for the reader, highlighting the main points and generating curiosity.

In news, a lede serves readers by communicating what they need to know about current events.
Marketers can benefit from this skill, too.

A lede will help you do the following:

 Reduce bounce rate. Readers will be less likely to dip out after just a few seconds, and may
explore other pages on your website.
 Increase time on page. The longer readers stay on a page, the better it is for. Time on page is a
common quality metric in corporate media.
 Feed your sales funnel. Ledes aren’t just for articles; their logic applies to video scripts and
sales pages, too. If readers hang around, you’re doing something right.

(For clarity, this definition of lead is different than a marketing lead — someone who has entered
your sales funnel — and is distinct from the word lead as other parts of speech, such as “lead me
to the nearest food truck, please.” 🌮)

Although there’s no one correct way to write a lead, some approaches are better than others
based on the type of article. Journalists learn a core set of leads in year one to attract and engage
readers. Here are nine different lead styles to know about.
Writing a Lead

 The Five W's and H. Before writing a lead, you need to ask the fundamental questions
of newswriting; who, what, when, where, why, and how. Be sure to answer these
questions in your lead and leave the less important information for later in your article.
Remember the inverted pyramid.
 Keep it Simple: The best lead is one that is concise and clear. Think about your story and
then write a simple but powerful way to reflect it. Don't bog your reader down with
overly complicated language or extra words. You must be clear and concise.
 Don't bury your lead: Your lead is your hook (the thing that makes the reader interested
in your story). If you bury it, then their interest might be buried along with it! They
shouldn't have to ask themselves what the story is about, you should be telling them
upfront.
 The ABCs of journalism: Remember your ABCs which are Accuracy, Brevity, and
Clarity. Though these should be incorporated throughout your article, they are especially
important in the lead.

Different Types of Leads

Summary Lead
A summary lead is the most common and traditional lead in journalism. It is meant to give a
quick summary in as few words as possible and is usually one sentence. It contains most of the
5Ws (who, what, when, where, why) and the H (how).

Single-Item Lead
This lead focuses on just one or two elements of a summary lead. The purpose is to pack a
bigger punch than a summary lead.
Delayed Identification Lead
The "who" is not identified right away in this lead because it isn't deemed as important (for
example, a member on the school board punched the president). Instead a descriptive pronoun is
used to describe the person and his title and specific name is revealed in a later paragraph.

Creative Lead
The purpose of the creative lead is to capture the interest of readers where a summary lead might
not.

Short Sentence Lead

A short sentence lead uses one word or a short phrase as a teaser with the rest of the lead
appearing later. This is often considered gimmicky, so only use it now and then.

Analogy Lead
This lead makes a comparison between and issue or event and something else a reader may be
more familiar with.

Of all the types of leads summary lead is the most common. It’s very popular when writing about
hard news or breaking news, and if you’re new to writing, you can’t go wrong with a summary
lead. This approach is also called a news lead or a direct lead.

Six Rules for Writing a Straight News Lead

Every news story begins with a lead (pronounced LEED), so learning to write a good lead is the
first step in learning to write a good story. Journalists use many different styles of leads,
depending on the situation. But most media writing students begin by learning the simplest and
most common style: the straight news lead. Below are six rules for writing good straight news
leads. You can also watch my approximately 15-minute, YouTube-hosted video
lecture explaining the rules.

Following these rules will help you write a good lead every time. So will breaking one or more
of them, but only if you do it intentionally and for a specific purpose. The statement I just wrote,
for example, is a fragment. It violates a basic grammar rule. But I broke the rule to emphasize
my point. That’s OK.
 Here’s a summary of the rules. Scroll down for details about each rule:

 Rule #1: A straight news lead should be a single paragraph consisting of a single sentence,
should contain no more than 30 words, and should summarize, at minimum, the most
newsworthy “what,” “where” and “when” of the story.
 Rule #2: The lead’s first verb should express the main “what” of the story and should be placed
among the lead’s first seven words.
 Rule #3: The lead’s first verb — the same one that expresses the main “what” of the story —
should be active voice, not passive voice.
 Rule #4: If there’s a “who” involved in the story, the lead should give some indication of who
the “who” is.
 Rule #5: The lead should summarize the “why” and “how” of the story, but only if there’s room.
 Rule #6: If what’s in the lead needs to be attributed, place the attribution at the end of the lead.

Rule #1: A straight news lead should be a single paragraph consisting of a single sentence,
should contain no more than 30 words, and should summarize, at minimum, the most
newsworthy “what,” “where” and “when” of the story.

 Example: “Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning.”

The lead is a single-sentence paragraph. Note, please, that a lead should be written in ordinary
English, not the clipped phrasing reserved for headlines like “Main Street home destroyed in
early morning fire.” Headlines, which appear in large print above the stories they introduce, are
written that way to conserve space. But people would consider you strange if you went around
talking like that all the time. Your audience will consider you strange if you talk that way in your
journalistic writing.

The lead contains 10 words — far fewer than the 30-word limit. Notice that the word count
includes even little words like “a” and “on.” The lead also summarizes the main “what” of the
story, which is that fire destroyed a house. It provides the “where” of the story with the phrase
“on Main Street.” Finally, the lead gives the “when” of the story with the phrase “early Monday
morning.”
 Important note: There are some mental gymnastics involved in correctly conveying the “when”
of a newspaper story. Suppose, for example, that today is Monday, and the fire happened this
morning. You might be tempted to write the lead like this: “Fire destroyed a house on Main
Street early this morning.” And doing so might be just fine if your lead were going to be
published, read and discarded that same day. But if you’re writing something that won’t get
distributed until the following day, keep in mind that someone who reads that the fire occurred
“this morning” will inaccurately assume that “this morning” means “Tuesday morning.” Also, if
you’re story is going to hang around on the Web for a while, “this morning” could mean just
about anything to someone who reads it days, months or even years afterward, even if your story
carries a time stamp. To avoid such problems, AP style recommends using the day of the week
for the “when” of events within seven days of the current date. For dates outside that time frame,
use the month and day. See you AP Stylebook’s “time element” and “months” entries for details.

Rule #2: The lead’s first verb should express the main “what” of the story and should be placed
among the lead’s first seven words.

 Example: “Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning.”

The verb “destroyed” expresses the main “what” of the story. “Destroyed” is the lead’s second
word — a position that puts “destroyed” well in front of “Street,” the lead’s seventh word.
Again, notice that the word count includes even little words like “a” and “on.”
There are no other verbs in front of “destroyed,” so “destroyed” is the lead’s first verb.

Following this rule will force you to quickly tell readers what the story is about.

Rule #3: The lead’s first verb — the same one that expresses the main “what” of the story —
should be active voice, not passive voice. A verb is active voice if the verb’s subject did, is
doing, or will do something.

 Example: “Fire destroyed a house on Main Street early Monday morning.”

“Destroyed” is the verb. “Fire” is the verb’s subject. “Fire” did something. It destroyed. A verb is
passive voice if the verb’s subject had, is having, or will have something done to it. For example,
if the lead were, “A house was destroyed by fire on Main Street early Monday morning,” “was”
 would be the verb, “house” would be the verb’s subject, and “house” would have had something
done to it. The house “was destroyed” (by fire). If you read your lead and feel compelled to add
something like the “by fire” phrase after the verb in order to express who or what did what the
verb is describing, chances are you’ve written a passive-voice lead.

Rule #4: If there’s a “who” involved in the story, the lead should give some indication of who
the “who” is.

 First example: “An elderly Murfreesboro man died Monday when an early morning fire raged
through his Main Street home.”

The “who” is “an elderly Murfreesboro man.” In this case, the “who” probably isn’t someone
whose name readers would recognize. As a result, the “who” angle of the lead focuses on what
things about the “who” might make the “who” important to the reader. In this case, it’s the fact
that the man was older and lived in Murfreesboro. That’s called writing a “blind lead.” The
man’s name will be given later in the story.

 Second example: “Murfreesboro Mayor Joe Smith died Monday when an early morning fire
raged through his Main Street home.”

Smith is the local mayor, and most readers probably will recognize his name.
As a result, the lead’s “who” element gives his name. So, use the name of the “who” in the lead
only when the name is likely to be recognized by a large percentage of your audience.

Rule #5: The lead should summarize the “why” and “how” of the story, but only if there’s room.

 Example: “An elderly Murfreesboro man died early Monday morning when fire sparked by
faulty wiring raged through his Main Street home.”

In this example, “… fire … raged through his Main Street home …” explains why the man died.
Meanwhile, “… sparked by faulty wiring …” explains how the blaze began.

Rule #6: If what’s in the lead needs to be attributed, place the attribution at the end of the lead,
never at the beginning of the lead.
 Example: “Faulty wiring most likely sparked the blaze that claimed the life of an elderly
Murfreesboro man last week, the city’s arson investigator concluded Monday.”

Attribution is a reference indicating the source of some bit of information. In this case, the
attribution is the phrase, “the city’s arson investigator concluded Monday.” Generally, attribute
assertions that represent anything other than objective, indisputably true information. Here, it is
objectively and indisputably true that the man is dead, that his house was destroyed, that it all
happened early Monday morning, and that the house was on Main Street. But the arson
investigator’s assertion that faulty wiring caused the blaze represents the investigator’s opinion.
It is, of course, an insightful opinion based upon his training and expertise, which is the only
reason it is worth including at all. But it is an opinion nonetheless. Therefore, the assertion needs
to be attributed to the investigator so readers can decide for themselves how credible the
assertion is.

Be aware that this rule and many of the others apply mainly to written forms of journalism. In
the lead for radio or TV news story, for example, attribution, if included at all, usually goes at the
beginning, as in, “The city’s arson investigator concluded Monday that faulty wiring most likely
sparked the blaze that claimed the life of an elderly Murfreesboro man last week.” The idea
behind this alternative organization of the lead is that audience members, when listening to or
watching the story rather than reading it, need a little extra time to start mentally processing the
information being presented, and they’ll be more likely to remember the information at the end
of the lead than the information at the beginning of the lead.

Elements that make a Photo look Good

The world relies on photojournalists to shoot compelling photos that enhance news stories. Can
you imagine a newspaper or a magazine void of any images? Can you imagine a News channel
without any video bytes? All these entities are incomplete without pictures. Photographs can
make you laugh, cry or recall an incident.
That said, the presence of photography makes it difficult to separate the ordinary from the
extraordinary, to differentiate a regular Instagram post from a Pulitzer-worthy capture. However,
the role of a professional photojournalist is extraordinarily crucial and different. They must go
beyond their own life and capture what a human eye can’t. While personal technology enables us
to step into a comfort zone, photojournalists step into the unknown to allow us to discover brave
new worlds.
For a professional photographer courses, there are some basic rules, requirements and most
importantly the media formats which he/she must follow. They constantly have to make sure that
their photographs fit in the theme and cover the subject in its rawest form.
Here are a few elements that define a winning photographic print:
Impact
A good photograph should have a substantial effect on the audience. The very sight of the picture
should evoke intense emotion. An impactful photograph leaves a lasting impact, appeals to your
psyche, and refuses to let go. You tend to stare longer because the photo sticks to you in some
way.

Composition
Before you click a picture, be clear of the composition. Create a rough visual of the frame in
your mind and portray the same. So that when you click, you can isolate your subject and are
successful in avoiding cliches. An active composition can be pleasing as well as disturbing,
depending on your focus.
Lighting
Lighting is the most crucial part of photography, as it enhances the picture to a new level.
Knowing about the best lights will help you create a beautiful frame. Knowledge of various
lights can assist you in placing the object to its advantage. Too much lighting can wash out your
picture. When the light gives up more contrast, your photo will have more detail, shape and
texture.
Colour Balance
The tones and colour should work together in harmony or should be used in contrast to stir up a
mixture of feelings. The intensity has to be realistic and should not clash with each other. A right
combination of colour can produce dramatic effects.
 Writing photo captions

Photo captions are often the first elements of a publication to be read. Writing photo
captions is an essential part of the news photographer’s job. A photo caption should
provide the reader basic information needed to understand a photograph and its
relevance to the news. It should be written in a consistent, concise format that allows
news organizations to move the photo to publication without delay.

Professional standards of clarity, accuracy and completeness in caption writing should

be as high or higher than any other writing that appears in a publication. A poorly
written caption that is uninformative or worse, misleading, can diminish the impact of
a good photo and undermine its credibility as journalism. If readers can’t trust the
accuracy of the simple information included in a caption, why should they trust what
they read in the rest of the publication?

In most photo captions, the first sentence identifies the people and place in the
photograph, and the date and location where it was taken. The second (and perhaps
third) sentence should provide contextual information to help readers understand what
they are looking at.

The exact format for captions vary from publication to publication, but a basic photo
captions should:

 Clearly identify the people and locations that appear in the photo. Professional titles
should be included as well as the formal name of the location. SPELL NAMES
CORRECTLY (check against the spellings in the article if necessary). For
photographs of more than one person, identifications typically go from left to right. In
the case of large groups, identifications of only notable people may be required and
 sometimes no identifications are required at all. Your publication should establish a
standard for its photographers.

 Include the date and day the photograph was taken. This is essential information
for a news publication. The more current a photo is, the better. If an archive
photograph or photograph taken prior to the event being illustrated is used, the caption
should make it clear that it is a “file photo.”

 Provide some context or background to the reader so he or she can understand the
news value of the photograph. A sentence or two is usually sufficient.

 Photo captions should be written in complete sentences and in the present tense.
The present tense gives the image a sense of immediacy. When it is not logical to
write the entire caption in the present tense, the first sentence is written in the present
tense and the following sentences are not.

 Be brief. Most captions are one or two short, declarative sentences. Some may extend
to a third sentence if complex contextual information is needed to explain the image
completely.

Here are some things to watch out for:

 Don’t be vague in your caption, and make sure names of people and places are
correctly identified and spelled. Be accurate. A photojournalist is a journalist.

 If a photo is manipulated digitally beyond sizing and color control, it should be

labeled as a “photo illustration” in the caption, or in the photo credit. If unusual photo
techniques are used, such as time-lapse photography, it should be noted. Explanations
are also needed for special effects, such as the use of an inset or a picture sequence.
 Do not use verbs or verb phrases such as “looks on,” “poses” or “is pictured
above” when writing captions. They are obvious and boring.

 Do not editorialize or make assumptions about what someone in a picture is

thinking. For example, “an unhappy voter…” or “a fortunate survivor…” The reader
should be given the facts and allowed to decide for herself or himself what the
feelings or emotions are.

 Do not characterize the content of a picture as beautiful, dramatic, horrifying or

in any other descriptive terms that should be evident in the photograph. If it's not
evident in the photograph, telling the reader won't make it happen.

 “Wild Art,” standalones, and day shots are all terms used to describe
photographs that are published independently of a written story. They often
require a more comprehensive caption. Some publications even provide small
headlines.