Journalism Leads Vocabulary

Paints a word picture of a person, place or object instead of telling about it.

• Description

• Anecdote

• Literary or Historical Allusion

• Contrast

An acceptable format, but is a very, very weak choice. The purpose of writing is to answer the readers’ questions, not ask them.

• Question

• Startling Fact or Statement

• Quotation

• Suspended Interest

Clarifies the writer’s opinion on a controversial point. This is better for Opinion/Editorial pieces.

• Anecdote

• Description

• Stace on an issue

• Startling fact or statement

The purpose is to shock the readers.

• Anecdote

• Literary or Historical Allusion

• Startling Fact or Statement

• Suspended Interest

Compares polar opposites: huge/tiny, or explosive/placid

• Description

• Startling Fact or Statement

• Contrast

• Stance on an issue

This could be a citation from an important person mentioned in the body of the article or said by an important person, but relates to the story’s purpose.

• Literary or Historical Allusion

• Quotation

• Description

• Startling Fact or Statement

A reference to a person, place, thing, or idea in literature or history that is commonly known to the paper’s readers.

• Literary or Historical Allusion

• Startling fact or statement

• Anecdote

• Description

Ignites interest by starting at the beginning of an incident/situation and then following a chronological order. Readers will only find out the resolution by reading the whole piece.

• Suspended Interest

• Literary or Historical Allusion

• Quotation

• Anecdote

A Lead should NOT be more than words, so make every word count

• 10

• 5

• 25

• 35

A NEWS and Sports News Lead should be a Hard Summary Lead. This means it is factual. Save opinions and obvious slant for Features, Sports Features, Opinions/Editorials, and Reviews.

• Always

• Never

• Sometimes

• Usually