cmat 131     sharma

Broadcast news story has three parts: begins with LEAD, the attention getting device; followed by the BODY of the story and concludes with some WRAP-UP or summary.

LEADS

Lead- first or possibly two sentences as narrated by the anchor or reporter. In print journalism, it comprises of the who, what, where, when, why and how of the story.

In broadcasting, inclusion of all these elements in the lead will overwhelm the listener- hence, include only two or three of these which are important.

Who- if story features prominent name/s

What- what happened

When- express the time today/this morning/last night

Where- location if it is important

Why and how- requires more lengthy explanation; not generally included in the lead

TYPES OF LEADS

Straight lead- direct, straightforward statement of fact (President Clinton proposed a new budget to combat the rising cost of welfare)

Throwaway lead- pure tease for the audience; provocative statements (There’s bad news and good news from the Magic Kingdom tonight)

Feature lead- soft lead; used with feature stories (Can you imagine a baby pig that lives in a house, sleeps in a playpen and watches television?)

Umbrella lead- to tie in multiple stories (Tornadoes touched down in three states in the midwest today. We have reports from Chicago and Indianapolis.)

BODY

Find a sequential pattern to present the items in the story. Chronological structure is the easiest and the best for stories where there is a sequence of events (crime, disaster, accident and similar stories)

WRAP-UP

Most stories do not end with formal conclusions or summaries, but the last sentence should sum up or anticipate future developments in the story, or in some way give a sense of closure. Do not end abruptly with new material or an incomplete explanation.

    Back to Cmat 131 Home         Back to SHARMA Home