Types of Leads

Before writing a story the reporter decides on the main idea/theme of the event. If the theme or thrust of the event/story consists of a single idea, we call this a single-element lead. There are also two- and three-element leads. The structure of the story takes its form from the reporter's decision about the lead. The following stories illustrate one-, two- and three-element leads.

Samples

Single-Element Lead

• Newspaper Article
• Newspaper Article (lead delayed)
• Newspaper Article (fire story, begins with single-element lead)
• Television Broadcast (repurposed for online reading)

Two-Element Lead

• Example

Three-Element Lead

• Example

Write the Story >

[ About This Site ]      [ Help ]