What is a lead?

 A lead is an opening paragraph that gives the audience the most important information of the news
story in a concise and clear manner, while still maintaining the readers' interest. If a reader does not
read beyond your first paragraph, they should still have an idea of what your article is about and the
most important information from that article. There are many different strategies for writing a good
lead as well as many differing opinions, but the strongest opinion is that they are hard and take time.
Don't plan on rushing a good lead.

Writing a Lead
 The Five W's and H. Before writing a lead, you need to ask the fundamental questions of
newswriting; who, what, when, where, why, and how. Be sure to answer these questions in your lead
and leave the less important information for later in your article. Remember the inverted pyramid.
 Keep it Simple: The best lead is one that is concise and clear. Think about your story and then write a
simple but powerful way to reflect it. Don't bog your reader down with overly complicated language or
extra words. You must be clear and concise.
 Don't bury your lead: Your lead is your hook (the thing that makes the reader interested in your story).
If you bury it, then their interest might be buried along with it! They shouldn't have to ask themselves
what the story is about, you should be telling them upfront.
 The ABCs of journalism: Remember your ABCs which are Accuracy, Brevity, and Clarity. Though
these should be incorporated throughout your article, they are especially important in the lead.

Different Types of Leads

Summary Lead
A summary lead is the most common and traditional lead in journalism. It is meant to give a quick
summary in as few words as possible and is usually one sentence. It contains most of the 5Ws (who,
what, when, where, why) and the H (how).

Single-Item Lead
This lead focuses on just one or two elements of a summary lead.  The purpose is to pack a bigger
punch than a summary lead.

Delayed Identification Lead

The "who" is not identified right away in this lead because it isn't deemed as important (for example, a
member on the school board punched the president). Instead a descriptive pronoun is used to
describe the person and his title and specific name is revealed in a later paragraph.

Creative Lead
The purpose of the creative lead is to capture the interest of readers where a summary lead might
not.

Short Sentence Lead

A short sentence lead uses one word or a short phrase as a teaser with the rest of the lead appearing
later. This is often considered gimmicky, so only use it now and then.

Analogy Lead
This lead makes a comparison between and issue or event and something else a reader may be
more familiar with.
What is the Lead in Journalism?

A lead is an initial paragraph or multiple paragraphs of a Different types of leads in journalism

story, whether it's a blog or a lengthy story. Its goal is to
pique readers' interest and draw them in. The remainder of
the story's job is to get them fully interested; the role of the The different types of leads taught in various mass
lead paragraph is to bring them there. communication and journalism colleges in India are:

The lead, or first paragraph, of a news item, is the most Single-item leads
crucial element. With so many information sources—
magazines, journals, newspapers, TV, radio, and the world It concentrates on only one or two aspects of a summary
wide web—consumers are just unwilling to go past the first lead.
paragraph (or even line) of a story unless it provokes their
interest according to the top mass communication and Summary leads
journalism colleges in India. That is exactly what a good
lead does. It conveys the most crucial information to
readers in a clear, succinct and engaging manner. It also It is direct and accurate. Its goal is to give a quick overview
establishes an article's tone and focus. of the story in as few words as possible to the reader.

Useful Tips for Writing a Great Lead Creative leads

It uses a creative approach to entice readers.
You must follow these tips for writing a great lead that will
keep the audience hooked. Here are some vital tips shared
by the best journalism college in India. Analogy leads

Focus on the 5Ws and H This lead draws a parallel between the specific subject of
your writing and something that is familiar to the average
reader.
Before writing a lead, consider which part of the story—
who, what, when, where, why, and how— is most crucial.
You should highlight those points in your lead. Short sentence leads

Be specific and clear A single word or a short phrase is used to lure the readers
into the remaining lead.
Though most leads need you to summarise content, you
must attempt to be as precise as possible. Your lead will not Delayed identification leads
be useful or intriguing if it is too big.
The subject, or "who," cannot be identified right away.
Concision
In addition to these types, you will learn a lot more from
Readers would like to discover why the narrative is the best journalism college in India that you choose.
important to them, and they won't wait long to find out.
Leads are usually one or two sentences long. They are For the right training and to get valuable insights about
typically between 25 and 30 words in length and should writing a lead for a news story or article, enroll in the best
never exceed 40. All mass communication and journalism journalism college in India.
colleges in India coach students to learn this art.

Use Active Voice

Powerful verbs will make your lead more vibrant and
engaging. Passive sentences, on the other hand, might seem
boring and leave out vital information, such as who or what
prompted the action.
 3. CREATIVE LEADS

These are the 6 Types of Leads in Most profile pieces use this lead option because
Journalism it captures immediate interest in a person,
organization, or community story. It focuses on
When you start writing in a journalistic the details of the subject matter to help the
context, it is essential to remember the reader start building a relationship with the
difference between “leads” and “sources.” writing.

Although these terms are often used 4. ANALOGY LEADS

interchangeably, a lead is an opening
paragraph of what gets written. The source is Reporters use this lead when writing to
where the journalist obtains the information. create comparisons between news events and
something else a reader might understand.
If someone says, “I’ve got a lead on a story,” “The explosion at the chemical factory was like
that is different than the types of leads that go a nuclear bomb exploding,” would be an
into the final piece. example of this option.

These are the different types of leads you’ll find

journalists writing each day to convey stories, 5. SHORT-SENTENCE LEADS
profiles, and current events.
The goal of this lead is to use a short phrase or
a single work as a teaser. Journalists use the
What Are the Different Types of rest of the information later in the piece to keep
Leads in Journalism? the reader engaged. Although it seems
gimmicky at times, this structure works well in
print if the editor runs the story on two
different pages.
1. SINGLE-ITEM LEADS

This structure focuses on a single element in a 6. DELAYED IDENTIFICATION

summary. The goal of this introduction is to LEADS
create a strong hook that encourages the reader
to follow.
This option is used quite frequently by
journalists because it identifies the critical
elements of a story before identifying the
2. SUMMARY LEADS participants involved. It sets up the reporting
throughout the remainder of the piece by
Most reporters use this option because it introducing the reader to what happened.
provides a quick summary of what to expect in
the rest of the article. It uses as few words as
possible while answering the six essential
questions of journalism: who, what, where,
when, why, and how.