Journ. 134: Prof. Craig: Writing Leads & Nut Graphs

Writing Leads & Nut Graphs

Which of the following leads do you prefer?

The first is a fairly straightforward, traditional news lead.

The newly expanded Vista Detention Facility opened its doors to the public for a fundraiser Saturday night, giving more than 100 local residents a taste of life behind bars.

The event, called “Jailhouse Rock,” was held by the sheriff’s department to give citizens a chance to look at the facility, and also to raise money for six local charities.

The second is a feature lead that takes a very different approach:

The room is scarcely bigger than an elevator. The bed is lumpy, the sheets are coarse, and the pillow is as soft as yesterday morning’s bagel. But at least it’s all fireproof.

Sound like home to you? Actually, this describes the sleeping conditions in the cells at the newly remodeled and expanded Vista Detention Facility.

How would you approach writing leads for the following stories?

• A survey was released yesterday by the Child Abuse Prevention Center in Baltimore. The survey shows that three to four children die every day in the United States from child abuse or neglect. Statistics in the survey show that the number of child abuse or neglect cases reported at the end of this year rose to 2.7 million, from 2.6 million the previous year. More than half of the children who died were under age 1. Seventy-nine percent of the deaths were among children under age 5.
  
• This information comes from police. A delivery driver for a Chinese food restaurant was taking food to an apartment in San Jose yesterday. The apartment complex was at 718 Western Ave. The driver was robbed of the Chinese food at gunpoint. The driver works for The Great Wall of China Restaurant at 1336 S. 17th St. A man opened the outside security door for him to let him in, and then the man disappeared. A short time later, the man came back and pointed a gun at the delivery driver. The man threatened to kill the driver unless he handed over the food. The driver gave it to him and ran out of the apartment building. Police weren't sure what specific food dishes the driver was carrying.

The exercises below will give you practice writing leads and nut graphs. Before you write your lead you should identify the focus of the story. If you want to write a soft lead, your focus should be your nut graph. If you think the story should have a hard-news lead, your focus should be in your lead. You may find it helpful to write a focus sentence for your own use before you write your lead. Instead of struggling to write the perfect lead, perhaps try writing several leads and then choose one you prefer.

1. MILWAUKEE - For the past three days nearly 2,500 people have been demonstrating outside of an abortion clinic here. Some demonstrators support the clinic and others oppose it. Yesterday nearly 150 of the anti-abortion protesters were arrested. Police said they were arrested on disorderly conduct charges of blocking the entrances to the clinic. The protesters said they planned to demonstrate for six weeks.
   
2. A fire in Los Gatos caused $76,000 in damages to a two-bedroom home in the 2300 block of Main Street. Fire officials said the fire was started by a lighted cigarette on a sofa. Firefighters arrived at the house at 3:30 a.m. and found it on fire. They had the blaze under control in five minutes. The homeowner, Kathy Mahoney, was awakened by the smoke and flames. She suffered minor burns on her hands and feet.
   
3. The California Bureau of Investigation yesterday released a report of crime rates for the last three months of 2004. The report says murders in California are up 53 percent and violent crime increased 2 percent. The state bureau officials said the number of rapes and robberies decreased significantly.
   
4. A United Nations scientific panel released a report yesterday. Researchers of the United Nations Environment Program found that damage to the earth's ozone layer is increasing. They predicted that ozone levels could drop 3 percent in the next decade, which would lead to a 10 percent increase in skin cancer. The ozone layer above the earth absorbs some of the sun's cancer-causing ultraviolet rays.
   
5. Information comes from police in Santa Ana, CA. A Santa Ana woman was charged with attempted murder yesterday. She was being held in the Orange County jail after being unable to post $250,000 bond. Police said the woman, June Carter, 71, doused her husband, who was confined to a wheelchair and had cancer, with rubbing alcohol and set him on fire. Police said she was angry because he ate her chocolate Easter bunny. She called paramedics six hours after the attack on her husband. Paul Carter, 62, was taken to the University of California Irvine Burn Center with third-degree burns, police said.