Its all about the Lead

Sometimes what a writer presents as the lead for her story is unsuitable and as an editor it is my responsibility to source out a ‘better’ and ‘new’ lead from the article written. This was the advice given to me recently when I faithfully accepted a lead concerning social responsibility and religious obligations in a certain news report. I got this note:

Social responsibilities and religious obligations are important but not strong enough to be a lead. We (editors) need to highlight something ‘new’ or ‘rarely heard’. In the news report you edited, I believe the suggestion to provide a discount and hour before the breaking of fast something rarely heard of . . .

Sometimes the lead story is ‘stale’ and may have been touched on in the past. Again, something fresh needs to be the replacement lead; for this to happen  you need to remember past news and be able to ‘see’ new and exciting’ leads.

Lastly, find something that is ‘big’ to be a lead. Which one is bigger – donating RM35K or 1000 martial arts exponent to attend? The original lead was ‘donating RM35K’ which was seen as common and not a VERY large sum. The new lead was the participation of 1000 performers. Got it? Big.