"To Lede or Not to Lede?"....Unfortunately for Journalists There Is No Option

A lede is probably the hardest aspect of writing for a prospective journalist to adjust to. When writing papers throughout high school, you're brainwashed the old A, B, C, D formula when writing an assignment.
But a news piece is not an assignment, it's more like a story, and a journalist has to learn to become a storyteller. Like a story, a news piece has a beginning a middle and an end. The lede is the introduction. It sets the tone for the piece and tries to establish the main idea or point of the article.
The hardest part in adjusting to writing ledes versus a traditional English paper introduction is often getting to the point. There should be no fluff or lengthy segways. Review what you're writing about, the notes you've taken and start with the main idea of the article right away.
For example, if you were covering the upcoming presidential debate, and McCain or Obama said something like, "If elected the first thing I will do is ruthlessly invade Canada," hopefully you start your story off with that. You wouldn't begin the article by saying what color shirt each candidate was wearing. When taking notes or interviewing a good journalist always will be searching for the lede.
Other times, you want to use the most shocking or eye-catching part of the story, even if it isn't the whole story. An example from "All the New; Writing and Reporting for Convergent Media," on page 103 illustrates this. In a piece from the New York Times, Ian Urbina starts his story about shelters for gay youths by writing, "One girl said she started living on the streets after her mother beat her for dressing like a boy."
It doesn't reveal what the story is about. The lede catches the readers eye and grabs them in. You immediately want to read more; what happened, who is this girl, why was she dressing like a man, And how is this story going to end?
The lede's most important function is being able to get the readers attention and set a pace for the story ahead. There are several ways to construct a lede and a prospective journalist will only get better with practice. Summarizing an entire article in 3 lines isn't necessary, but catching the reader's attention and prepping them for the rest of the piece is essential.

For example, here's an assignment. You're a journalist and are asked to cover the following taping of this local news broadcast. Which one of the following choices would result in the most popular and effective lede? (Remember, what is the biggest story here?)

A) Bill O'Reilly's fantastic color schemes coupled with his wax-figurine like hair style.
B) The ever problematic relationship between tele-prompters and newscasters.
C) Bill O'Reilly is %$@*ing crazy.
D) The cut off Sting's newest album.

Change in Readers

Thomas Washington's piece, "Searchers, not readers, on overload," poses an interesting question. It seems to be common knowledge that people do not read as much as they did 15-20 years ago.
But Washington argues that this is not entirely a negative progression. People actually read more than they ever have each day, it's just in bits and pieces. Washington quotes Pulitzer-Prize winning biographer Stacy Schiff as saying, "Surely we have never read, or written so many words a day. Yet increasingly we deal in atomized bits of information, the hors d'oeuvres of education."
The question would be, is it satisfactory that we're only eating the appetizers and not the main course?
I'd argue that the internet -- Google in particular -- has broadened our capabilities to the point where we need to accept this as fact, whether it's good or not. Our choices for reading at the click of a mouse have increased exponentially over the past several years and by nature we have become searchers, not readers.
There is almost no chance that we can avert young readers from scanning over more information rather than finding the deeper meaning of printed words, so we should focus on making sure they read pieces that are constructive. Less gossip and more news. Hopefully that is not just a pipe dream.


The most noticeable spawn from this age of attention defect driven news consumption may be blogs. People not only like to read news pieces that are more opinionated -- possibly towards their own views -- but ones that they can get instantaneously. Perhaps they can even comment their own sentiments immediately, via the comment/reaction section that exists on most blogs. And has the proliferation of blogs effectively killed traditional print journalism.

Here is a spirited debate between Buzz Bissinger, the award winning author of "Friday Night Lights, and Will Leitch, the founder of Deadspin.com, a popular online sports blog with multiple contributors. It's an interesting round-table on whether or not the inevitable shift towards blog-esque news coverage is positive or detrimental to the evolving business of journalism. I'm not sure why Cleveland Browns wide-receiver was even there. His agent might as well have been there as he really offers nothing of substance to the debate. It's a little lengthy and contains some profanity, but is well worth viewing for anyone who blogs or is interested in journalism.

What's A Weblog?

I don't read blogs that much. Actually, to be more accurate, I don't read blogs at all. So being asked to define and recommend "a good one" is sort of like asking a vegan how they like their porterhouse cooked.
There's a few reasons why I don't read blogs. First, everyone of them seems to have the same amateurish look with the same fonts and cheesy color schemes. I'm not against amateur journalism at all - being, well, an amateur journalist myself - but for some reason I just would rather read actual columns and articles. Second, I they always seem to lengthy and poorly formatted. I have a short attention span and typically lose interest by the 350th word of a 100 word entry. Maybe I just don't give blogs a chance, and that's something I need to change. Or, maybe I'm not missing out on much.
I guess I'd define a blog as an personal online journal or diary, except it's different from the one that you hid from your parents and siblings because you want people to read it. A blog is entertainment. People write about whatever they want, whenever they want, however they choose to write it.
As far as recommending a blog, I think I just found a pretty decent one. Michael Lombardi is a former National Football League front office executive, with over 20 years of experience. He knows the ins and outs of how the business is ran and keeps a running blog on the website "The National Football League Post." Lombardi possess a wealth of access and knowledge of the game and expresses his own original opinions in a candid and coherent manner.

Here's a link
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/blogs/notesfromlombardi/

Alicia Shepard Quote

National Public Radio's resident ombudsman, Alicia Shepard knows a thing or two about the craft of interviewing. Shepard interviewed over 100 people close to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein while undertaking extensive research for her book, "Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadows of Watergate."
According to Shepard, a successful journalist must always remember that, "A good interview is merely a good conversation."

1st Amendment

The First Amendment is what many would call the foundation of our basic rights and freedoms. It has a profound affect on all of our lives, even though it was written over 200 years ago. It's the first part of the Bill of Rights and guarantees us freedom of speech, the freedom to practice any religion we want and the right to peacefully assemble. There have been many court cases challenging what the exact meaning of these rights are, especially concerning freedom of speech.

Here's what the rest of the Bill of Rights guarantees us:


Second Amendment- Right to Bear Arms

This is the one right that has led to the overwhelming, useless and deadly amount of firearms that poison many streets in America. It's also the lone piece of legislation that the NRA and every other gun-nut in this country hides behind whenever we have a school-shooting. Inevitably movies, music and video games are blamed, but guns are still designed to kill people. Unfortunately this amendment has yet to be revised despite the advent of automatic weapons and their mass production that did not exist 200 years ago.

Perhaps the ramifications of this amendment are best captured by two of our generation's finest actors -- Brian Austin-Green and Douglas Emerson -- in this 1991 clip from "Beverly Hills 90210," a quintessential piece of Americana. In this touching yet spectacularly unrealistic and over-the-top scene, the show's producers are faced with the timeless question that every Hollywood producer is forced to tackle; how to eliminate a useless cast member while addressing one of the hot button social issues of the moment. I know! Gun control!!!



Third Amendment- Right to Not Quarter Soldiers in Homes Without Owner's Consent

This was introduced to keep British soldiers from crashing in American homes during the American Revolution - I think? - and is completely irrelevant and undoubtedly collecting dust wherever it is stored.


Fourth Amendment- Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

This amendment keeps the government from kicking down your door and rummaging through your closet, but apparently not from randomly wire-tapping our phones calls. The Patriot Act trumps this one.


Fifth Amendment- Right to Due Process

This amendment basically gives us all the right to a fair trial. It also gives each state the power of eminent domain, meaning they can seize private property if they have a decent reason and give you enough money for it. Also included is the double jeopardy law, meaning you can't be tried for the same crime twice and is also responsible for the dreadful 1999 Tommie Lee-Jones movie of the same name.


Sixth Amendment- Right To A Speedy Trial

Basically an addition to the fifth amendment, saying that not only are we all entitled to a fair trial, but the courts can't hold it up just to keep you on trial for a crime. Most cases don't even go to court now anyway.


Seventh Amendment- Right to Jury Trial in Certain Civil Trials

This one seems outdated, it guarantees jury trial in federal civil court cases. Such cases are as extinct as Andrew McCarthy's career.


Eighth Amendment- Right Against Cruel or Unusual Punishment

Pretty self-explanatory. I understand what cruel punishment would be, but what would be unusual punishment? Having to listen to this for 48 straight hours?


Ninth Amendment- Enumerated Rights

Basically, the ninth amendment is a warning. It's a little vague however. The amendment says that there are right that may exist that are not mentioned in the constitution, and that those rights cannot be violated simply because they're not listed.

Tenth Amendment- State's Rights

This Amendment guarantees that the Federal Government only has power that is listed in the constitution, all other right are for states and individuals. It doesn't mean you or your governor can do whatever you or he/she wants, just that any laws the states wish to enact have to be within the confines of the constitution and must pass through each states own legal system. It's much more complicated than what I just typed, but that's pretty much the basis of it. Actually now that I read more about this Amendment, I'm not sure what it means exactly.

Kelly Cramer Lede

This would be my potential lede after listening to Kelly Cramer and asking her questions:


So, you just inherited a couple million and you want to go mingle with your newfound, super-elite brethren in their favorite pastime.
Invest in some fencing gear? No way.
Join the nearest equestrian club? Try again.
Round up some thoroughbreds and start a good old fashion polo match, right? Not even close.
According to former Village Voice writer, Kelly Cramer, "Litigation is the new sport of kings." Cramer should know. Over the span of six months she unearthed the secretive, nefarious and as Cramer found out, occasionally incestuous world of high finance in her feature piece, "Daddy's Little Girl."

McCain Quote

I thought the most interesting and thought provoking quote from John McCain's acceptance speech was, "We believe in a government that unleashes the creativity and initiative of Americans."

Some things to think about:

1) If what we're doing in Iraq right now is considered "unleashing" our initiative, I sincerely hope our next president is not John McCain.

2) We all have varying degrees of creativity inside of us. Some of it is positive, constructive and should be shared by everyone. But some of it is what is causing American youths to be raised with little motivation, no attention span and a mortal fear of participating in outdoor activities. Will iPhones and Nintendo Wiis really help the progress of teenagers in Taiwan?