Inverted Pyramids Stories and Summary Leads

http://www.alestlelive.com/media/storage/paper351/news/2008/01/29/News/Stabbing.Arrests.Occur.On.Party.Bus-3172423.shtml

The importance of this lead is clearly meant to show the danger through the form of proximity. No names are used in the lead because this doesn’t help the magnify the lead in any way. There is no attributed information because they are not disclosing anything that a witness or official has reported. The time and date are a factor due to the time period in which the story was released. Something that magnifies the story’s lead is the amount of people that were arrested as well as the stabbing being the main focus of the story.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/BFC9D1B6437D747B862573DF00151CF9?OpenDocument?referrer=delicious

The story’s lead is one of impact. One name is used in the lead and is accredited along with  a comment along the lines of the State trooper losing his job. The source is identified as state Rep. Jay Hoffman. The lead could have been constructed better because it is not the type of lead that makes you want to read more. If you have no true interest in a car crash then you most likely wont read on. The writer made the main point of his lead the car crash instead of two sisters that died.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-mcdonald_28_bothjan28,0,1990471.story

I have no clue what this lead focuses on. My guess would be novelty, but the lack of information and unknown name would stop me from reading any further. I have no clue whether this is about the mother being haunted or her son’s murderer still on the loose. More information needs to be stated as well as the assumption that she has been haunted for the last two months. Regardless of any circumstances the facts are left out of the lead and left up to interpretation. I don’t think this is even a summary lead.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-al.juno27jan27,0,7344744.story

This lead shows a much different style than the rest. It has that name that many songwriters, movie-goers and parents may be able to relate to. This lead is set to play on emotions. It sets the mood right with the mentioning of food, drinks and entertainment. Although there is no attribution anywhere, the lead is full of excitement and even gives the location for local preferences.

Accuracy, The Key To A Writers Future!

The importance of obtaining true knowledge about a subject or its creative parts and meaning. For a writer the comprehension of misspelled words, misused phrases or comma abuse can be the difference between a job or hobby. The advancement of this knowledge is key in the deciding factor of what’s correct and what’s opinion.

Writing for the media calls for great care and trust in the subjects we write about. The relationship between sources and its content are admired and respected with the utmost honesty. Often, this connection is broken between the two, causing and inconsistent pattern of information.

The incorrect spelling of names, titles and occupations can be deadly to a writer’s credibility. If such a simple mistake can be deemed harmful, then readers will often wonder what other information can be scrambled or incorrect. The ability of writer will be in question along with any other of the previous content placed into the media’s hands. Such a mistake should be avoided at all costs.

Consequently, for young and upcoming writers steps should be taken to prevent these actions. A failing grade in a course that teaches these rules would only be the correct action. If this type of mistake destroys ones credibility, then why allow anybody to get to the level to make that mistake? This justifies Prof. Speere’s grading policy on factual errors.

The content of story must be accurate to properly display information for the media. If in any situation this doesn’t occur, then the story is now invalid. The whole purpose for a writer is to gather the correct information and facts about the stories we cover, if accuracy is a problem then that defeats the whole purpose of a writer.