Take the Lead

Summary leads are designed to, as the name suggests, to summarize quickly in few words the most important facts in a story. This type of lead is a direct result of the inverted pyramid format for hard news stories, in which the most important information is delivered to the reader at the top of the story and the least important facts are at the bottom. Summary leads deliver the most significant of the 5 Ws and the H. The oppisite, the feature leads, do not rely on this format.

Feature leads allow the writer to persuade the reader to want to read more and to find out the main points of the story. Furthermore, feature leads do not rely on a lot of facts. Instead, they try to rely on ways to get the reader to want to know more. Unlike the summary lead, the feature lead puts faith that the reader will keep reading to discover the main points in the story.

Summary leads hit the reader with significant facts. If the reader is skimming stories, he or she will know the important information by just reading the lead. Feature leads ease into the stories, foreshadowing what the stories most important facts are.

The first feature story that I found that had a good example of an anectotal feature lead is from baltimoresun.com, titled "Trucking industry facing long layovers." The story ultimately calls attention to the alarming percentage of truckers who are out of work or on a minimized schedule. The story leads off with the situation of Odell Haggerty, a specific truck driver who is strugling for his job, and then laces his personal story in with the overall story of how truck drivers, both nationally and in Maryland, are struggling for their jobs. (http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-te.md.recession.truckers04may04,0,6069898.story)

The second feature story I found with a superb lead is from The New York Times website, titled "A Town Fights to Save an Oasis of Baguettes." This story gives a narrative lead telling about a French couple moving to Colebrool, N.H. to open up a bakery. The first three paragraphs offer an enticing, heart-warming story of the couple settling into the town and becoming part of the community. It is not until the fourth paragraph that the reader discovers that the main point is that this business was deemed "marginal" by the State Department of the United States, and that the couple were denied a renewal on their E-2 investor visa. The town stood behind the business.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01land.html?_r=1&em)