Lead paragraph

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A lead paragraph (sometimes shortened to lead; in the United States sometimes spelled lede) is the opening paragraph of an article, book chapter, or other written work that summarizes its main ideas. [1] Styles vary widely among the different types and genres of publications, from journalistic news-style leads to a more encyclopaedic variety.

Contents

Types of leads

Leads vary enormously in length, intent, and content depending on the genre of the piece.

Other introductions

In journalism, there is the concept of an introductory or summary line or brief paragraph, located immediately above or below the headline, and typographically distinct from the body of the article. [4] This can be referred to with a variety of terms, including: the standfirst (UK), [4] kicker (US), [4] bank head(line), deck, dek, or subhead (US).[ citation needed ]

A foreword is a piece of writing sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature, written by someone other than the author to honour or bring credibility to the work, unlike the preface, written by the author, which includes the purpose and scope of the work. [5]

Spelling

The term is sometimes spelled "lede". [6] The Oxford English Dictionary suggests this arose as an intentional misspelling of "lead", "in order to distinguish the word's use in instructions to printers from printable text," [7] similarly to "hed" for "head(line)" and "dek" for "deck". Some sources suggest the altered spelling was intended to distinguish from the use of "lead" metal strips of various thickness used to separate lines of type in 20th century typesetting. [8] [9] [1] However, the spelling "lede" first appears in journalism manuals only in the 1980s, well after lead typesetting's heyday. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] The earliest appearance of "lede" cited by the OED is 1951. [7] According to Grammarist, "lede" is "mainly journalism jargon". [16]

"Bury the lead" expression

The colloquial expression "burying the lead" refers to a writer intentionally hiding the most important aspects of a news story in a later paragraph. This could be done for several reasons: to tease the reader into reading through other information and/or viewing various advertisements, or to hide a politically inconvenient or embarrassing revelation, such as when a theory or position of the writer, publisher, or their benefactors has been revealed to be incorrect. [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

In English writing, quotation marks or inverted commas, also known informally as quotes, talking marks, speech marks, quote marks, quotemarks or speechmarks, are punctuation marks placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a quotation, direct speech or a literal title or name. Quotation marks may be used to indicate that the meaning of the word or phrase they surround should be taken to be different from that typically associated with it, and are often used in this way to express irony. They are also sometimes used to emphasise a word or phrase, although this is usually considered incorrect.

News style, journalistic style, or news-writing style is the prose style used for news reporting in media, such as newspapers, radio and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverted pyramid (journalism)</span> Communication of major details before minor details

The inverted pyramid is a metaphor used by journalists and other writers to illustrate how information should be prioritised and structured in prose. It is a common method for writing news stories and has wide adaptability to other kinds of texts, such as blogs, editorial columns and marketing factsheets. It is a way to communicate the basics about a topic in the initial sentences. The inverted pyramid is taught to mass communication and journalism students, and is systematically used in English-language media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merriam-Webster</span> American publisher and dictionary

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an American company that publishes reference books and is mostly known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States.

Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have some degree of speaking ability, but choose not to speak because of the negative or unwanted attention atypical voices sometimes attract. Such people communicate using sign language. Some consider it to be a derogatory term if used outside its historical context; the preferred term today is simply deaf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Press release</span> Information provided for public relations

A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considered a primary source, meaning they are original informants for information. A press release is traditionally composed of nine structural elements, including a headline, dateline, introduction, body, and other components. Press releases are typically delivered to news media electronically, ready to use, and often subject to "do not use before" time, known as a news embargo.

An op-ed piece is a short newspaper column that represents the strong, informed, and focused opinion of a writer on an issue of relevance to a targeted audience. It is a written prose piece which expresses the opinion of an author or entity with no affiliation with the publication's editorial board. The term is short for "opposite the editorial page", referring to the practice of newspapers placing op-eds on the opposite side of their editorial page. The New York Times is often credited with developing and naming the modern op-ed page.

New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non-fiction. Using extensive imagery, reporters interpolate subjective language within facts whilst immersing themselves in the stories as they reported and wrote them. In traditional journalism, the journalist is "invisible"; facts are meant to be reported objectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Ws</span> Checklist for a journalists lead: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

The Five Ws is a checklist used in journalism to ensure that the first paragraph contains all the essential points of a story. As far back as 1913, reporters were taught that the lead should answer these questions:

In article structure for journalism, the nut graph or nut graf is a paragraph that explains the context of the story "in a nutshell". The term can be spelled many different ways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feature story</span> Piece of non-fiction writing about news

A feature story is a piece of non-fiction writing about news covering a single topic in detail. A feature story is a type of soft news, news primarily focused on entertainment rather than a higher level of professionalism. The main subtypes are the news feature and the human-interest story.

Machine-readable dictionary (MRD) is a dictionary stored as machine-readable data instead of being printed on paper. It is an electronic dictionary and lexical database.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Body text</span>

Body text or body copy is the text forming the main content of a book, magazine, web page, or any other printed or digital work. This is as a contrast to both additional components such as headings, images, charts, footnotes etc. on each page, and also the pages of front matter that form the introduction to a book.

A false, coined, fake, bogus or pseudo-title, also called a Time-style adjective and an anarthrous nominal premodifier, is a kind of appositive phrase before a noun predominantly found in journalistic writing. It formally resembles a title, in that it does not start with an article, but is a common noun phrase, not a title. An example is the phrase convicted bomber in "convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh", rather than "the convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghanistanism</span>

Afghanistanism is a term, first recorded in the United States, for the practice of concentrating on problems in distant parts of the world while ignoring controversial local issues. In other contexts, the term has referred to "hopelessly arcane and irrelevant scholarship", "fascination with exotic, faraway lands", or "Railing and shaking your fist at an unseen foe who is quite unaware of your existence, much less your fury".

John Augustine McNulty (1895-1956) was an American journalist and writer. John McNulty is a major figure in the development of the genre of literary journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common English usage misconceptions</span> Beliefs about the use of the English language considered by others as wrong

This list comprises widespread modern beliefs about English language usage that are documented by a reliable source to be misconceptions.

Article structures in journalism encompass various formats to present information in news stories and feature articles. These structures reflect not only a writer's deliberate choice but also a response to editorial guidelines or the inherent demands of the story itself. While some writers may not consciously adhere to these structures, they often find them retrospectively aligned with their writing process. Conversely, others might consciously adopt a style as their story develops or adhere to predefined structures based on publisher guidelines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doomscrolling</span> Compulsive consumption of large quantity of negative online news

Doomscrolling or doomsurfing is the act of spending an excessive amount of time reading large quantities of news online. Doomscrolling can also be defined as the excessive consumption of vertical, short-form videos for a long period of time, without knowing the amount of time passed. It may leave the person with a feeling of tiredness or unproductiveness after doomscrolling. This phenomenon is most seen in teenagers and children. This can also be considered as a form of Internet addiction disorder. In 2019, a study by the National Academy of Sciences found that doomscrolling can be linked to a decline in mental and physical health.

This glossary of journalism is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in journalism, its sub-disciplines, and related fields, including news reporting, publishing, broadcast journalism, and various types of journalistic media.

References

  1. 1 2 Carol (November 28, 2000). "The Mavens' Word of the Day: lede". RandomHouse.com. New York: Random House/Bertelsmann. "Maven's Word of the Day" blog (defunct as of 2012). Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-28. This tertiary source reuses information from other sources but does not name them.
  2. Peha & Lester (2006). Be a Writer: Your Guide to the Writing Life!: Proven Tips and Powerful Techniques to Help Young Writers Get Started. Leverage Factory. p. 125. ISBN   9780977300006.
  3. Spark, David; Harris, Geoffrey (2010). Practical Newspaper Reporting. Sage Publications. pp. 89, 90, 94, 167. ISBN   9781473903340.
  4. 1 2 3 "Standfirst". Double-Tongued Dictionary . 15 October 2004. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  5. Pope, Geoff (18 November 2010). ""Foreword" Versus "Forward"". Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips. Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  6. "Lede". Merriam-Webster Online. Chicago, IL, US: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  7. 1 2 "lede, n.2". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  8. Harpel, Oscar (1870). Harpel's Typograph, or Book of Specimens. Self-published. p.  246. thin strip of metal separating lines of type.
  9. "Bury the lede or bury the lead: which is right?". Merriam-Webster Online.
  10. Owens, Howard (September 18, 2011). "lede-vs-lead". HowardOwens.com. New York: Owens Press. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  11. William Metz (1977). Newswriting: from lead to "30". Prentice-Hall. p. 62. ISBN   978-0-13-617514-8.
  12. Louis Martin Lyons (1965). Reporting the news: selections from Nieman reports. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 286.
  13. Grant Milnor Hyde (November 2008). Newspaper Editing - A Manual for Editors, Copyreaders and Students of Newspaper Desk Work. Read Books. ISBN   978-1-4437-2632-0.
  14. Carl G. Miller (1962). Modern Journalism. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 33. ISBN   9780030027307.
  15. Frank Luther Mott (2000). American Journalism: A History of Newspapers in the United States Through 250 Years, 1690–1940. Routledge/Thoemmes Press. ISBN   978-0-415-22893-0.
  16. "Lead vs. lede". Grammarist.com. 28 March 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  17. "Why Do We 'Bury the Lede?'". Merriam-Webster . Retrieved May 16, 2024.