Good Leads and Bad Leads

Good Lead:
From Daily News:

A so called “final recording” of Joan Rivers is a complete fake, claims her longtime rep, who blames another comedian for putting the audio on YouTube to garner publicity for his one-man show — a charge that he denies.

I like this lead because it gives enough information about the story while making the reader interested in learning more. It follows the inverted pyramid style lead and allows us to see the broader picture the article will narrow in on.


Bad Lead:

From NBC News:

The hits just keep coming for the NFL.

While this is a snarky line that hooks readers, I believe that given the subject matter it comes across as distasteful. Also, it doesn't really tell the reader what happened to the NFL. It's mean but in a way that may detract some readers. Furthermore, people who do not know the current NFL scandal may be confused.

I believe a better lead in would be:

The NFL receives another blow to its reputation after Arizona Cardinals RB Johnathan Dwyer was charged with assault today. 

Police have identified a suspect involved in the shooting of a Pennsylvania state trooper

Good Lead:

From the Los Angeles Times:

Diet sodas and those packets of artificial sweetener you put in your coffee may not be as benign as we thought, a new study suggests.

I like this lead because, like the Joan Rivers' article, it gives readers the basic gist of the article but leaves just enough questions to keep you reading. Why are artificial sweeteners dangerous? What is being done about it?

Bad Lead:

From E! Online,

A picture really is worth a thousand words.

First of all, this line is a total cliche. Also, it tells us nothing about the story and why we should be interested in reading more. We have no reason to want to read more. While the lead is a cute nod to the article's focus, it doesn't give us any intrigue.

A better lead would be:

A new photo of  Adam Driver could give fans an inside look into his role for the upcoming "Star Wars" film.