It is a concise and sharp statement of a news stories' vital details. The main difference between a lead and short report is that leads are written in the past tense.
Short reports are exactly that a short report.
The short report gets the basics of a story out to the public it states the who, what, where, when, why and how known as the 5w's and the h. Sometimes short reports cover a breaking news stories and will just give the a few details until the whole story can be written. Short reports are updated regularly to give up to the minute details of a situation.
An example of a short report would be that of Gas prices on the rise. This report is a simple 4 sentence story that is packed with information. It says why, where and what caused the prices to rise, who is feeling the effects and when the prices will rise.
LA train wreck death toll rises to 18; 135 are injured is a good example of a lead. The lead in to the story is one sentence which is packed with vital details of the train wreck. It tells what happens, who was effected and when the accident happened. This is the lead in to the story which goes into major details of the crash.
Photo credit- Francine Orr, Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment