Radio and TV Journalism RTV 303 lecture 4 Mrs. Sarah Amin

Lecture Objectives The student should be able to: Consider the qualities which a good intro should have. Recognize how a reporter decides what information to put in the intro; and offer advice on how to make your intro more effective.

The perfect intro The intro should be based on the most newsworthy aspect of the story. One simple way to do this is to imagine yourself arriving back at your office and being asked by the chief of staff: "What happened?" Your quick answer to that question, in very few words, should be the basis of your intro. The intro should be kept short, uncluttered and relevant to the main story. It should be simple grammatically. Your intro should normally be no longer than 20 words. There is no minimum length. An intro of 10 or 12 words can be very effective.

Cont. The intro should attract the reader making him want to read the rest of the story. If the intro is dull the reader will not want to read on. If it is too complicated the reader will give up. The intro should be appropriate in style to the story. Not all possible intros are appropriate. It would be wrong to write a humorous intro for a story about a tragedy. Serious news stories call for serious intros. For example, if a man was eaten by the pet crocodile he had reared from an egg, it might seem amusing to use the saying about "biting the hand that feeds you", but it would cause great hurt to the man's family and friends for no good reason (apart from trying to show how clever you are)

Examples of Common Errors 1- Beginning the lead with the attribution Example : At a press conference in Cairo today, Abdel Rahman el Degui, spokesman for the Arab economic center announced that last month the cost of living rose 4 percent. Revised :The cost of living rose 4 percent last month, a spokesman for the Arab economic center said today.

Cont. 2- “ Label “ Leads : Label leads mention a topic but fail to reveal what was said or done about that topic. Example : Israeli Prime Minister held talks with a UN envoy in London yesterday. Revised : Israel says it is nearing agreement with the UN on settlement building in the West Bank, after its PM held talks with a UN envoy in London yesterday.

The golden rule for intro-writing is KISS - Keep It Short and Simple. Once you have written your intro, you should read it again carefully, asking yourself the following questions: (check list) Is it the most newsworthy key point in the story? Is it short and simple? If it is more than 20 words, try to cut it down. Cut out repetition and other unnecessary words. Remember the lazy rowers in that canoe.

Cont. Is it written in the active voice? If not, should you rewrite it in the active voice? Have you put the facts first in the sentence? Is it up-to-date? Are your verbs in the correct tense? Have you avoided quotes? If you have started with a quote, can you rewrite it in reported speech?

Assignment Write a news lead/ intro : For each of the following stories, decide what is the most important key point or points and then write the intro for the news story. Assume that all these events happened within the area served by your newspaper, radio or television station. There is no single right answer, so be free to get started… Never be satisfied with your first attempt, however good. Always ask: "Can it be better?"

Story 1 Dr Michael Kai is a scientist with the Papua Department of Primary Industry. He has been working for ten years on a project to breed larger cows. One of his cows, an adult female, has been weighed at 550 kgs. This is the heaviest cow ever to have been bred in Papua. Dr Kai hopes to use this animal to breed other very large cows.

Story 2 A school bus ran off City Road in Suva, narrowly missed an electricity pole and came to rest in a garden. Most of the bus windows were smashed. There were more than 30 children on the bus. They were going to Martyr School. It was a 36-seater bus. All the children escaped serious injury. Some of them jumped out of the bus and grazed themselves. Eye- witnesses said the children were helped from the bus screaming and shouting and in a state of panic. This happened this morning.