Lede For Speed
The lede of this story:
"This year’s student lineup for Spring Fling has arrived. Set to take the stage alongside the concert’s big names are the rock band Tired of Tuesday, Whiffenpoofs alum PJ Frantz ’23 and Caitlyn Clark ’23 — who performs under the stage name DJ Leon Thotsky."
-Three student groups win Battle of the Bands by Brian Zhang, Yale Daily News Staff Reporter
What is "This year’s student lineup for Spring Fling has arrived."?
What are "who, what, when, where, why and how?"
Who your lead quote comes from.
One of your sources.
The minimum number of sources required for a YDN-reported news article.
What is 3?
Where does a neutral fact go?
The end of your story.
The lede of this story:
"Advocates for people with disabilities are working alongside University administrators with the aim of creating a cultural center for students living with disabilities. If established, a disability cultural house would become Yale’s fifth cultural center and the first in 29 years.
The push for the creation of a new cultural center began in the fall of 2019 with Disability Empowerment for Yale, which is an undergraduate advocacy and affinity organization for students with disabilities. DEFY’s then-president, Paige Lawrence ’21, and a collection of board members including Joaquín Lara Midkiff ’24, worked with the Yale College Council in drafting a proposal for adoption by the YCC Senate. DEFY worked with the YCC, the then-Resource Office on Disability (now Student Accessibility Services) and the Yale College Dean’s Office to get their proposal for the Persons with Disabilities Cultural Center off the ground."
-Students push for Persons with Disabilities Cultural Center, Michael Ndubisi, Yale Daily News Staff Reporter
What is "Advocates for people with disabilities are working alongside University administrators with the aim of creating a cultural center for students living with disabilities. If established, a disability cultural house would become Yale’s fifth cultural center and the first in 29 years."?
The number of sourcing requests you should send ahead of writing your piece.
What is any number greater than 3?
Bonus points: Why do we do this?
The brief summaries of your pieces you wrote that can help you create a headline, lede and nutgraph.
What are our pitches?
A common mistake found newsies make when starting off writing lede quotes
What is regurgitate information from the nutgraph?
What are the three things your neutral fact should do?
Be short, neutral and tie into some aspect of the story.
The lede of this story:
"If anyone knows a scholarship success story, it is Rori Reiswig ’25. Starting in eighth grade, after being nominated as a scholar for the pre-college program, she knew that she would have a high chance of winning the Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship later on in high school. And she did.
A first-generation, low-income college student — and now a Cooke scholar — she earned $55,000 in annual scholarships for three years of undergraduate studies on top of the full financial aid package Yale provided her as a student whose family earns less than $75,000 annually.
This dual coverage comes with qualifications, though. The Cooke Scholarship only sends Reiswig $3,700 to pay her “student share,” a standardized University estimate for the cost of books and personal expenses and the number all Yale students on financial aid — even those receiving a 100 percent aid package — are expected to contribute to their education. This number does not appear in the term bill. Most large scholarship funds like Cooke are conscious about only providing funding for fees that the financial aid of colleges does not already cover. In Reiswig’s case, Yale would already pay for her tuition, room, board and activities expenses, so Cooke refrained from sending more than $3,700."
- UP CLOSE | Dwindling returns by Brian Zhang, Staff Reporter
What is "If anyone knows a scholarship success story, it is Rori Reiswig ’25. Starting in eighth grade, after being nominated as a scholar for the pre-college program, she knew that she would have a high chance of winning the Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship later on in high school. And she did.
A first-generation, low-income college student — and now a Cooke scholar — she earned $55,000 in annual scholarships for three years of undergraduate studies on top of the full financial aid package Yale provided her as a student whose family earns less than $75,000 annually."
Or the first two paragraphs
The place a nutgraph goes in your article.
What is right after your lede?
Why do we include a neutral fact?
Because journalists have an obligation to the truth and objectivity.
Bonus: Has this always been the case?
One of the two ways you can tell you have a good lede quote.
Either expands on the nutgraph or offers a smooth transition way from the subhead toward the body of the article.
Bonus: How do you know you have a REALLY good lede quote.
They ensure justice is done to your reporting, your readers and the communities that trust you to report their stories, these tips help us create more sensitive and inclusive coverage to help us ge too the truth.
What are Diversity, Equity and Inclusion guidelines?