Length

Try not to use more than 30 words in the lead, but do not make this an inviolable rule. Some leads, even when well written, may require 35 or even 40 words. On the other hand, many - or perhaps most - require fewer than 30 words to accomplish their objective.

A good lead maybe a single word, a single sentence, two sentences, a paragraph or even two paragraphs. Whatever form it takes, it must answer the questions a reader would normally ask such as the following:

"What has happened or is about to happen?" "Who is involved?" "When and where did it happen?" And, sometimes, "how and why did it happen?" An effective lead directs the reader's interest into the body of the story.

The summary news lead is the one most often used at the beginning of a straight news story. The most direct approach (and best method for an inexperienced writer to use in constructing a summary lead) is known simply as featuring the most important element. Featuring the most important element means exactly what it says. The writer determines which of the five Ws and H is most important to the story and places it at the outset of the lead. Each of the example leads in figure 2-4 features a different W or H as the most important element.

The leads in the figure are given to show how any element may be featured. The "why" element (to prevent a forest fire in this case) is clearly understood and can be dropped out of most leads to avoid redundancy and extra wording. Other summary lead examples are presented in figure 2-5 that answers all or most of the necessary five Ws or H. Those omitted are either implied or unnecessary.

The five summary lead examples in figure 2-5 are all "who" leads. In each example, who is featured at the beginning of the lead, thus giving it more prominence than the other Ws or H. More examples of summary leads are illustrated in figure 2-6, with a different W, or H, featured at the beginning of each.

Figure 2-7. - Sample novelty leads.

Feature and Novelty Leads

Although the summary lead is the simplest, safest and strongest of all leads used in straight newswriting, most media like to add a little variety when leading into a story. Feature leads are a vital part of newspaper writing. The feature lead permits you to take a mundane straight news piece and transform it into a story that captures the interest and empathy of the readers.

Novelty leads differ from summary leads in that they make no attempt to answer all of the five Ws and the H. As the name implies, novelty leads are novel. They use different writing approaches to present different news situations to attract the reader's attention and arouse curiosity.

Feature leads must fit the mood of the story. If you intend to set a particular mood or point of view in a story, your intent or tone should be set at the beginning of the story.

If the situation presents itself in which a novelty lead would be appropriate, by all means use it. Do not get into the habit, however, of trying to write a novelty lead for every story, because they are not always adaptable to every situation. It is easy for the unusual to become commonplace if it is seen or heard too often. Novelty leads lose their effect if they are overused.

Figure 2-7 presents various examples of novelty leads most commonly used in newswriting. Although the eight types described are the ones most commonly used, it is a mistake for you to assume that all news leads may be categorized by type or classification. Their names are not important anyway. To the JO, the ability to write is more important than the ability to categorize.

Identity and Authority

There are two other considerations to keep in mind when you are preparing news leads - identity and authority. In most local stories, especially homeowners, it is necessary to identify persons frilly in the lead.

For example, suppose you prepared a hometown story on a sailor who formerly resided in Louisville, Ky. Not being very experienced, you turn in a lead like the following:

"Navy Seaman Eugene M. Brainer reported for duty Feb. 16 aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Hinkle, now operating in Western Pacific waters."

Although you have answered all the Ws and H except why and how (in this case unnecessary), your lead is still incomplete. The story is meaningless until you identify Brainer as being from Louisville. Even then, an editor of a Louisville newspaper will want a local angle on the sailor. The only angle available to you is the name of Brainer's parents and their home address.

You must, therefore, identify Brainer more fully in your lead. It is unlikely that many of the newspaper's readers would know him merely by name, and a city the size of Louisville might have more than one Eugene M. Brainer. To localize the story and to avoid confusion or misinterpretation, you would include more identification. The lead should be written in the following way:

"A Kentucky native, Seaman Eugene M. Brainer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Mack Brainer of 70 N. Williams St., Louisville, reported for duty Feb. 16 aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Hinkle, a unit of the Navy's Seventh Fleet in the Pacific"

As you can see, complete identification of a person in the lead sometimes makes that lead long and cumbersome. Yet, it cannot be avoided in hometown stories where identity is more important than the action, especially if the action is weak, as it is in the preceding example.

In many instances, however, full identification is unnecessary or impractical for inclusion in the lead. In general, complete lead identification is unnecessary and should be avoided when one or more of the following points is true:

The action overshadows the person or persons involved.

There are too many persons involved to identify all of them by name and rate.

'The identification does not mean much to the readers in a particular area.

The "who" is a prominent, widely known figure.

When an individual is not fully identified in the lead, that person must be identified by name, rank or rating, title, duty station and possibly hometown address elsewhere in the story. This identification is also important for places and things in a story. If you use the name of an unfamiliar town or city in a story, at least identify it by the state in which it is located. If you use the name of a ship or an airplane, give its type or classification.

Impersonal identification maybe used in the lead when the news subject consists of several persons unfimiliar to the reader, such as groups or organizations. Nonspecific whats, wheres and whens may also be used depending on the news circumstances.

Authority is the source from which quotes and information originate in a story. Like identity, it should be used in the lead only when necessary. Never use authority in a story when the source of information is clearly implied.

The following is an example of a lead in which authority is necessary:

Longer tours, fewer, shorter and less expensive moves can all be expected by Navy people for the rest of this fiscal year, according to Vice Adm. David Bagley, Chief of Naval Personnel.

Attributing this statement to the Chief of Naval Personnel gives it authority, because the admiral is in a position to know and speak about such matters.

Contrary to popular belief, people do not believe "everything" they read in newspapers. Many of them, as a matter of fact, challenge any statement that conflicts with their preconceived opinions. Using authority in a story helps you overcome this natural skepticism. Sometimes people will believe certain facts more readily if they know or respect the person to whom they are attributed.

What follows are two simple rules governing the use of authority in a news story: Use it when it appears that the reader may challenge a statement.

Use it when the name of the authority lends support or emphasis to the facts.

In the Navy, the authority for many statements is frequently implied. If a story obviously deals with Navy ships, Navy personnel or Navy equipment, it is often unnecessary to use "The Navy announced today" or similar expressions. If a newspaper editor feels a statement must be attributed to the Navy, the editor will insert the authoritative source. It is a bad practice for this phrase to be inserted in every story merely for the sake of using it or just to get the word "Navy" into the story. It is also particularly bad for every news release to be attributed to the captain or admiral by name, especially when the subject of the story is remote from his immediate interest.

For a wrap-up on preparing the lead, you should keep the following four objectives in mind: Present a summary of the story

Identify persons and places involved

Stress the news peg

Stimulate the reader to continue reading the story