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December Module

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4 views

December Module

Uploaded by

Cri Zel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TOP ACHIEVERS PRIVATE SCHOOL, INC.

Alicia; Cauayan; Santiago; Roxas; Solano; Ilagan


“The School of the Future”
Module in Campus Journalism

Month of December
THE LEAD
As iterated, the lead is the story's opening sentence or two. Previously, it was discussed
that straight news, tells the most important facts of the story. In a feature article or news
feature, the lead could be a word, a phrase, a sentence or a paragraph that attracts and
sustains the reader's interest.
It is a rule of thumb that the lead in a news story, particularly in straight news, need not
be too long. As the popular adage says, "A lead should be like a miniskirt, short enough
to be attractive, but long enough to cover the essentials." However, how long is long?
How short is short? American researches suggest that for an average reader, one
sentence or paragraph should contain 17 to 35 words for him/her to comprehend at once
the message of the sentence. The lesser words in a sentence, the higher its
comprehensibility.
Major Classifications of Lead
1. Summary lead. It answers the five W's and one H (What, Who, Where, When, Why and
How). As iterated, the story is presented using the inverted triangle form where the most
important data are in the first and the second paragraphs. This is used in the straight
news. As the nomenclature suggests, it summarizes only the MOST important five W's
and H.
2. The Grammatical-Beginning Lead. This classification of lead paragraphs still gives
emphasis on the logical importance of the major details; however, it is also equally
concerned with its grammatical structure. There is an avenue to break the monotony of
summary or conventional lead paragraphs.
3. Unorthodox lead or novelty lead. It is best used to attract the reader's attention, to
arouse his/her curiosity and to sustain his/her interest. It is used in writing a news feature
or a feature article.
Kinds of Summary Lead

At the Commission on Higher Education Central Office the Board yesterday,


of Trustees of the Batanes State College approved the new grading system
which will take effect next semester.
1. What lead. This is applied if the most important angle of the news is the event per se.
2. Who lead. This type of lead is used if the most important angle of the news is the
person involved, thus, more significant than the event.
3. Where lead. If the location where the event takes place is more significant than the
other aspects of the news, then this kind of lead is best applied.
4. When lead. This type of lead is seldom used since this is only applicable when the time
element is more important than the other angles of the story. Nonetheless, it suggests
urgency and immediacy.
5. Why lead. If the cause of the event is the most effective angle of the story, this type of
lead is best suited.
6. How lead. If the process or the manner of how the event happened is most important
among the other angles of the news, the how lead is used.

Kinds of Grammatical-Beginning Lead


1. Prepositional Phrase Lead. A phrase is introduced by a preposition.
2. Infinitive Phrase Lead. As the name suggests, it starts with the preposition "to" plus
the main verb.
3. Participial Phrase Lead. This lead is signaled by the presence of the present or past
participle of the verb, acting as a modifier.
4. Gerundial Phrase Lead. This lead is introduced by a gerund. It is a verbal ending in -
ing, which acts as a noun.
5. Clause Lead. This lead commences with a clause, which may become either an
independent or subordinate, or may transform as either a noun or an adjectival or
adverbial clause.

Kinds of Novelty Lead


1. Narrative lead. It draws the reader into the story by allowing him/her to relate
himself/herself with the character of the story.
2. Descriptive lead. Effective in writing personality sketches, travelogues and the like,
this lead illustrates a mental picture of the subject to the reader. A writer must be adept
in creating mental images through the play of the language to satisfy the readers in
using this technique.
3. Quoted Statement Lead. It is a statement uttered by well-known personality or
celebrity. Usually, in school setting, when student journalists want to highlight the
message of the guest speaker, they use this type of lead.
4. Question lead. It is a thought-provoking question to capture the interest of the reader
and lead them to find the answer provided by the succeeding details of the article.
5. Teaser. Generally short, crisp and witty, this is a device to deceive the reader in a
jesting manner as it arouses his curiosity and gently leads him into the story. Often,
riddles are used, and they do not give the readers any clue on the nature of the story.
They are mostly suggestive and humorous.
6. Punch lead. It is short, striking one-sentence lead.
7. Astonisher lead. This lead aims to give the reader a strong sense of emotional value.
Thus, it primarily uses an exclamatory sentence.
8. One word lead. It uses a very significant word to capture or arouse the interest of the
reader.
9. Parody lead. It consists of a parody of a well-known quotation, song, poem, book or
movie film title.
10. Background lead. It describes an event in which the background overshadows the
individuals who participate in it; often, it uses stories about carnivals, festivals, dances
and others.
11. Freak lead. In order to enhance its appeal and to easily catch the attention of the
reader, this kind of unique lead uses typographical effects.
12. Contrast lead. It is used to point out opposites and extremes.
13. Staccato lead. Primarily rooted from musical parlance, this term suggests a lead that
consists of a series of words and phrases, punctuated by periods, commas or dashes.

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