- Do not mix headlines with leads. A lead must always be a complete sentence.
- The attribution is rarely the most important part of a lead. "According to D.C. Police," should be one of the last things said.
- To avoid any confusion, use the name of the day.
- Scott Forsythe is not a celebrity. His name does not need to be introduced in the lead.
- Numerals beginning a sentence must be spelled out.
- 8:45 on Thursday morning should be replaced with 8:45 a.m.
- When citing a police report in the attribution, say which city it is from.
- Use the past tense. The article should say "the police report said," rather than "the police report says."
- Since there is no address, "road" should be spelled out and not abbreviated.
- Answer as many of the 5 W's as possible in the lead.
- Follow the AP stylebook (22-year-old).
- Use "said" instead of "reported."
- Do not begin leads with long clauses.
Homework for 9/27
- Rewrite lead for the Forsythe story.
- Write lead for Samuel Pinckney story (#2 on "Stressing the Unusual" sheet).
- Complete Ali Rhami story.
- Email all three assignments to Prof. Piacente no later that Saturday at noon.
No comments:
Post a Comment