Soft Leads

Here are some examples of great leads:

Summary leads that are both direct and lively:

Two veteran motion picture industry executives were chosen today by the board of Walt Disney Productions to head the troubled company a mouse built. (The New York Times)

Strong winds combined lethally with a fire in a Queen high-rise building yesterday, creating a “blowtorch” that roared through an apartment building and into a hallway, killing three people and injuring 22. (Daily News in New York)

Now, not so direct…

Late one spring night, after drinks at a bar and a bit of protest, Elaine Hollis agreed to her boyfriend’s desire to capture their passion on videotape.

Inside Edward Bayliss’ apartment, the video camera rolled at the foot of his bed.
He promised to erase the tape.

Seven years later, Hollis, who has a son with Bayliss, was in Delaware County Court accusing him of contriving to bring her into disrepute by exhibiting the tape.

Bayliss, president of Philadelphia Suburban Electrical Service in Upper Darby, admitted showing the tape to one of his friends.

Hollis contended he showed and distributed the tape in Delaware County and surrounding areas, as well as gave copies of it to two bar owners in Darby, who played it for customers.

Last week, after three years of litigation, a county judge upheld an Oct. 15 Common Pleas Court order that mandated Bayliss pay Hollis $125,000 to settle her lawsuit.

Patrick Scott, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Contrast leads

But-guess-what contrast

William Pearce, known to his patients as Dr. William J. Rick, was charming and slick, say his former associates and police detectives.

He came to town with medical degrees, numerous national board certificates and myriad other qualifications.

But the real Dr. Rick died in 1986, police say.

And now William John Pearce, 57, is in jail on charges of impersonating a doctor.

Sharon McBreen, The Orlando Sentinel

Blind leads/Teaser leads

Burlington, Vt. – This is no ordinary public library.

For one thing, there are only four books on the shelves. For another, you won’t find any of these works, or the many that are expected to join them soon, at other libraries or bookstores.

You probably never will.

That’s because the Brautigan Library, which opened here last weekend, has a unique policy—it only accepts books that have never been published.

Steve Stecklow, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Build-on-a-quote leads

Andover, Kan.—Medinda Easterbrook knows exactly how long it took for a tornado to blast apart her comfortable home while she and her husband huddled in the basement.

“It lasted five Hail Marys and two Our Fathers, but you have to say them quickly,” she said yesterday.

While she was praying, the concrete basement rumbled and shook. When she and her husband, Bryan, came upstairs, they were hardly prepared for the scope of the destruction that had swept through this small town about five miles east of Wichita.

Larry Fish, The Philadelphia Inquirer

List leads

Boston College has an assistant dean for alcohol and drug education. Rutgers University sets aside dorm rooms for recovering students alcoholics. The University of Nevada bars students from leaving school sports events to make alcohol runs.

Increasingly, colleges are confronting problem drinking by providing education and rehabilitation programs, alternatives to the campus bar scene and stricter regulation of on-campus parties.

The Associated Press

Combo leads

The following examples are from Edna Buchanan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning police reporter for The Miami Herald.

Example 1:

The man she loved slapped her face. Furious, she says she told him never, ever to do that again. “What are you going to do, kill me?” he asked, and handed her a gun. “Here, kill me,” he challenged. She did.

Example 2:

On New Year’s Eve, Charles Curzio stayed later than planned at his small TV repair shop to make sure customers would have their sets in time to watch the King Orange Jamboree Parade. His kindness cost his life.

Direct, short leads, with a difference:

Example 3:

Gary Robinson died hungry.

Example 4:

His last meal was worth $30,000 and it killed him.

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Contribution from:
Carol Rich (2003), Writing and reporting News
Melvin Mencher (2006), News reporting and writing