UNCONVENTIONAL LEADS

UNCONVENTIONAL LEADS
• Uses any device that will attract attention,
arouse curiosity, or sustain interest.
• Also known as novelty leads.
Used when...
• When the facts are not entirely straight news
• When the purpose is to arouse the reader’s
interest, not to satisfy it.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
PUNCH (STARTLER OR ASTONISHER) LEAD
• Consists usually of a short, snappy sentence, set
off in a paragraph by itself
• Used when one fact is extremely important or
startling
Now that the Federal Communication Commission
has repealed the fairness doctrine, broadcasters
will finally have the opportunity to be fair.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
BACKGROUND LEAD
• Consists of sentences describing an event
which the background overshadows the
individuals who participate in it.
• Used often for stories about carnivals, dances,
gym exhibitions, music festivals, and
homecoming events
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
BACKGROUND LEAD
Lucban, a picturesque town nestled at the foot
of majestic Mt. Banahaw, is the place where
hordes of out-of-town visitors and devotee
farmers converge to take in the fiesta delights,
the dazzling sights and the carnival
atmosphere at the town plaza.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
DIRECT QUOTATION LEAD
• Consists of a speaker’s direct words
• Used when what is said is more striking or
important than the person who made the
statement
“I am sorry,” said Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,
president of the Philippines
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
QUESTION LEAD
• Consists of (a series of) a question usually set of
in a paragraph by itself.
• Used only when the question is the crux of the
story
Is it livelier baseball or deader arms? Is it stronger
athletes or lighter bats?
This much is certain: be it a livelier ball, there
haven’t been these many strikes since Ray Hobbs
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
DESCRIPTIVE LEAD
• Consists of a description of either a person,
place or event.
• Used when comparatively few words can
formulate a vivid image in the reader’s mind.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
A lumbering black rhinoceros and her calf
ambled along in the glow of an African dawn.
A giraffe munched from the top of a thorn
tree, and a herd of cape buffalo turned
threatening stares on a red Toyota
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
CONTRAST LEAD
• Should be sharp and vivid to be effective.
• Used to point up opposites and extremes.

Bright lights, tinsel and expensive toys are on

display in the shop windows, but it will be a
bleak Christmas for hundreds of poor families
in the re-located areas.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
LITERARY, HISTORICAL, OR MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSION
LEAD
• Consists most frequently of a quotation or a
reference to a literary, historical, or mythological
character.
• Used when the reference is natural and appropriate.

Ferdinand Marcos crossed his rubicon when he called

for a snap election.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
PARODY LEAD
• Consists most frequently of a parody of a well-
known song, poem, quotation, book or motion title
• Used only when the parody is appropriate and
easily recognized and not trite.

WOMAN power. The hand that rocks the cradle

stretches out to active leadership in lay
participation in church apostolate.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
ATMOSPHERE LEAD
• Consists of a group of words or phrases that
help to portray the setting or mood for a
reader.
• Used only when the setting or mood of an
event is interesting or significant.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
ATMOSPHERE LEAD

An oily gray smudge appears to hang menacingly

over the metallic waters of the Gulf of Oman,
where a line of oil tankers rolling gently at anchor
stretches from one end of the horizon to the
other.
It seems an unlikely spot for history to be in the
making, but...
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
SUSPENDED INTEREST LEAD
• Consists usually of several sentences in which
the reader’s interest is intensified as he
continues to read.
• Used most for news feature or feature stories
which must be printed in their entirety to
preserve their news interest.
 TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
SUSPENDED INTEREST LEAD
Nude a Hot Property That Left Them Cold

ORLANDO, FLA- Police here may not know much about art, but
they know what they like, and they did not think highly of a
print of a nude woman posting for a bearded artist
In fact, the confiscated print prompted the derision in the
evidence room and was headed for incineration when an
official who was admiring the frame finally noticed the
signature. Picasso, it said.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
DIRECT ADDRESS LEAD
• Addresses the reader

Forget those onerous penalties for dipping into

your certificate of deposit. More banks now
let you withdraw from a CD before maturity,
without paying a penalty.
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
STACCATO LEAD
• Consists of a succession of several short
phrases

Camels. Swift horses. Charging tribesmen. Rifle

fire. There are times when “The Battle for
Afghanistan resembles an old-fashioned
costume epic.”
TYPES OF NOVELTY LEADS
KNITTING THE FACTS TOGETHER
• A coherent, smooth, easy-flowing lead may be
achieved by deciding on the feature, arranging
the other W’s in the descending order of
importance, eliminating unnecessary details
and using the right links.
UNDER KNITTING THE FACTS TOGETHER

“WHEN” LINK
• One of the sports writers’ favorites
• Used when some action has taken place, or
will take place, at a time when some other
action has or will have taken place, at a time
when some other action has or will have taken
place.
UNDER KNITTING THE FACTS TOGETHER

“WHEN” LINK

NASA’S last Atlas- Centaur rocket mission was

placed in jeopardy Monday when a launch
pad accident ruptured on empty fuel tank and
slightly injured four technicians.
UNDER KNITTING THE FACTS TOGETHER

“WHERE” LINK
• The lead begins with an action which is
transported to a place where some other
pertinent action is put into motion.

More than 170 people from India landed Sunday

near a Nova Scotia village where they sought to
escape the violence and religious strife at home.
 UNDER KNITTING THE FACTS TOGETHER
“AS” LINK
• The lead begins with an action which is transported to a
place where some other pertinent action is put into motion.

Brig. Gen Alfredo Lim, Superintendent of the Western Police

District (WPD), ordered yesterday a crackdown on illegal
strikes in the city as he mobilized his men for the
dismantling of all barricades in factories and firms in
compliance with a directive by President Aquino.
TAKE HOME QUIZ
• SHORT BOND PAPER
• CLIP AND MOUNT FIVE UNCONVENTIONAL
LEADS FROM A DAILY NEWSPAPER AND LABEL
THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR CLASSIFIED
GRAMMATICAL LEAD. INCLUDE THE TITLE OF
THE STORY.
• TO BE PASSED NEXT MEETING