LEDE WRITING

HARD NEWS LEDES

• Combine most vital 5Ws & H
• Subject-Verb-Object order
• "Who did What to Whom?"
• 25-35 words long--BREVITY!
• Use COLOR to make readers WANT to read!

PRACTICE LEDE

HARD NEWS
WHO: 2 WHS students
WHAT: received severe burns
WHEN: last Friday
WHERE: in the boiler room
WHY: they snuck in to pull a prank
HOW: the jimmied the lock

DELAYED IDENTIFICATION LEDE

• Identify the person in the nut graf
• Use general ID in lede
• Give more details with ID in nut graf

PRACTICE LEDE

SAMPLE | DELAYED ID
WHO: WHS teacher Mr. Tobey
WHAT: was given 90hrs. of community service
WHEN: on Monday
WHERE: in district court
WHY: he sprayed graffiti on FB field
HOW: the night janitors caught him red-handed

IMMEDIATE ID LEDE

• State name of person in lede
• Only use for FAMOUS, SIGNIFICANT people

PRACTICE LEDE

IMMEDIATE ID LEDE
WHO: Movie star Robert Downy Jr.
WHAT: Crashed his car
WHEN: last night
WHERE: on Hollywood Blvd. in L.A.
WHY: he was running away from paparazzi
HOW: he tried to speed away and had to swerve to miss hitting a photographer