ADVANTAGES OF THE INVERTED PYRAMID STYLE

The inverted pyramid style offers several distinct advantages in newswriting, which are discussed in the following text.

Presents Pertinent Facts First

Most readers have neither the time nor the desire to read every word of every story in a newspaper. By using the summary lead, the JO focuses the reader's attention on the news, arouses the reader's interest and allows the reader to swiftly skim important facts. In other words, spill the whole story in the first paragraph. The reader can decide whether to continue reading the details or to go on to something else. But even if the reader stops there, the inverted pyramid form of writing has provided the essential facts. The primary objective of a news story then, is not to withhold information, but to present the facts with rapid, simple directness.

Facilitates Page Layout

The inverted pyramid method of story construction is a valuable tool to the makeup person who is confronted with an eight-inch story and only six inches of column space. If the story has been written in inverted pyramid form, it becomes a simple matter of cutting lines of type from the bottom of the story until it fits the available space or "jumping" (continuing) the story on anothe page - all without damage to the important facts that appear at the top.

Facilitates Headline Writing

Headlines for news stories should tell the main facts in the most brief form. If a story is written in the proper inverted pyramid style, the copyreader (who writes the headline) can find these facts in the first paragraph. The copyreader will not have to search the entire story for headline material.

THE LEAD

The opening paragraph of a news story is referred to as the lead (pronounced "leed").

Figure 2-4. - Example lead variations.

Figure 2-5. - Example summary leads by story catergory.

Figure 2-6. - Sample summary leads featuring the most important elements.

The lead is the first and most important paragraph of any news story. It attracts the reader and-states the important facts first.

A key fundamental fact taught in classrooms the first time newswriting is mentioned, and repeated at the college level, is that in writing a lead for a straight news story, the writer must answer six basic questions about the event. Known as the five Ws and H questions, they are as follows: who, what, where, when, why and how.

It is not necessary that a writer answer all of these questions in the lead sentence. The summary lead does, however, attempt to answer several of the more important ones. To insist upon answering the five Ws and H questions as a rigid format will lead to lengthy, cumbersome leads that may be misleading or hard to read. The lead contains the news peg and is the most important part of the story. It can either make or break any news story.

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