Week 10: Leads

Leads were really difficult for me in Media Writing. If I’m being honest, they still are. I found the supplemental reading material really helpful because it outlined a bunch of different styles of leads and explained which type of story goes best with which style. 

One thing I have noticed in a lot of my communication classes so far is that this type of writing is the opposite of what we’re taught in English courses. For example, in high school and college English courses alike, I’ve learned that powerful introductions are often made up of quotes. When writing leads, it’s quite the opposite. The reporter needs to figure out the “who, what, where, when, why, and so what” of the piece and wrap it in a 35-or-fewer package for the average reader.  Easier said than done! 

In our assignment, I struggled with deciphering what information was the most important. The reading states that this is crucial to deciding the order in which to write to lead. Messing up the order can actually change the meaning of the news because it can bury the most important element. The most helpful tip (in my opinion) was this:

1. Subject- verb- object order. In other words, who did what? I get overwhelmed with the idea of cramming the five Ws in 35 words. This format keeps it simple.