Good and Bad Leads Analysis

Good Lead: 

From The Washington Post

"House approves Obama’s Iraq-Syria military strategy amid skepticism"

Lead: The House on Wednesday approved President Obama’s plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to counter the growing threat of the Islamic State organization, even though lawmakers in both parties remain deeply skeptical about its chances for success.

This straight lead follows the Inverted Pyramid style and includes all the necessary information. Within this first sentence, the reader is aware of who is involved, what is happening, when it happened, and where the action is taking place. The rest of the articles provides more detail for the reader. This lead contains the pertinent information that the reader must know, but also makes someone want to read more by presenting a problem at the end of the sentence. The lead's sentence structure is effective, as it provides the important information first but then presents a problem which creates contrast.  Also, this lead is very clear. After reading it once, the reader knows exactly what is happening. In addition, a reader who does not have in depth knowledge of the issues in Syria would be able to follow this lead. The authors did not use jargon, which increases the lead's clarity.


Good Lead:

From The Washington Post

"Police release surveillance videos showing Hannah Graham before she disappeared"

Lead: Police investigating the disappearance of a University of Virginia student have focused their search in an area of downtown Charlottesville where she was last seen on surveillance video walking alone in the early morning hours Saturday.

This straight lead follows the Inverted Pyramid style, and provides the reader with the most relevant information. The reader knows who is acting, what happened, when the individual was last seen, and where the investigation is taking place. This lead is clear and precise, as the reader already has specific details about where the investigation is headed. Also, this lead provides enough context that readers who knew nothing about the woman's disappearance would be able to jump right into the article. This lead pulls the reader into the investigation, and provides hopeful news that makes the reader want to know more. 

Bad Lead:

From The Washington Post

"Virginia has 7 confirmed cases of rare respiratory illness"

Lead: The rare respiratory virus that has sickened children in 16 states has now been confirmed in Virginia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

This lead does not provide the reader with all of the essential information. While it does say that children have been affected in 16 other states, it does not say who or how many are being infected in Virginia. Another crucial piece of information that is missing is when the illness was confirmed in Virginia. If I read this article weeks after it was released, I would have to carefully read through most of the article to find out when this event took place. There should be an exact date or time within the lead. Also, this lead has a backwards sentence structure by placing "the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said," at the end of the sentence. This makes the sentence sound odd.

Rewrite: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Wednesday that seven children in Virginia are sick from the rare respiratory virus that has already been found in 16 other states.