Campus-Journalism-Lesson 5 2025-2026.pptx

This lesson gives lesson to make the future journalist more equipped in the near future.

1. WRITING THE LEAD Lesson 5

2. LEAD This may be a single word, a phrase, a clause, a brief sentence, an entire paragraph, or a series of paragraphs. The main functions of the lead, aside from introducing the news story, are to tell the story in capsule form and to answer right away the questions the reader would naturally ask.

3. KINDS OF LEAD Conventional or Summary Lead Grammatical Beginning Lead Novelty Lead

4. Conventional or Summary Lead WHO lead – used when the person involved is more prominent than what he does or what happens to him. Example: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo addressed April 20, the PMA graduates in Baguio City.

5. Conventional or Summary Lead 2. WHAT lead – used when the event or what took place is more important than the person involved in the story. Example: The NSAT will be given on November 24 to all graduating high school students desiring to enroll in the four-year college course.

6. Conventional or Summary Lead 3. WHERE lead – used when the place is unique and no prominent person is involved. Example: The Philippines will be the site of the next Miss Universe contest.

7. Conventional or Summary Lead 4. WHEN lead – rarely used as the reader presumes the story to be timely. However, this lead is useful when speaking of deadlines, holidays, and important dates. Example: April 15 is the deadline for filing the Income Tax Returns at the BIR. Today, almost to the hour, the Revolutionary Government was proclaimed by former President Joseph Estrada.

8. Conventional or Summary Lead 5. WHY lead – used when the reason is more prominent or unique than what happens. Example: Because of poverty, around a hundred students dropped out from school last year. This was learned from PNU President Nilo L. Rosas.

9. Conventional or Summary Lead 6. HOW lead – used when the manner, mode, means, or method of achieving the story is the unnatural way. Example: By appealing to the school board, the Manila Science High School was able to construct a three-story concrete building.

10. Grammatical Beginning Lead 1. Prepositional phrase lead – the phrase is introduced by a preposition. Example: With brooms and other cleaning equipment, boy scouts from the Manila public high schools cleaned the city markets in consonance with Mayor Lito Atienza’s CLEAN and Beautification Drive.

11. Grammatical Beginning Lead 2. Infinitive phrase lead – it begins with the sign of the infinitive to plus the main verb. Example: To encourage tourism, balikbayans are given a warm welcome by their fellow Filipinos.

12. Grammatical Beginning Lead 3. Participial phrase lead – it is introduced by the present or past participle of the verb. Examples: Hoping to cop first place, the PNU wood-pushers honed up for the chess championship games. ( present participle ) Dressed like priests, robbers were able to enter the bank. ( past participle )

13. Grammatical Beginning Lead 4. Gerundial phrase lead – it is introduced by a gerund (a verbal noun ending in – ing ). Example: Winning the development communication trophy during the national press conference was Araullo High School’s best achievement of the year.

14. Grammatical Beginning Lead 5. Clause lead – the lead begins with a clause which may either be independent or subordinate, or may either be a noun or an adjectival or adverbial clause. Example: Because Sept. 9 was Osmeña Day, all lessons dealt with the life of the late President Sergio Osmeña , Sr. ( Subordinate, adverbial )

15. Novelty Lead 1. Astonisher lead – uses an interjection or an exclamatory sentence. Example: Champion of District I! Better look your best this week!

16. Novelty Lead 2. Contrast/Paradox lead – describes two extremes or opposites for emphasis. The sharper the contrast, the more effective the lead will be. Example: Four months before the Beautification and Cleanliness Drive, Zone 15 in Tondo , Manila was the dirtiest district. Three months after, it won first place in the CLEAN contest sponsored by the Department of Community and Local Government.

17. Novelty Lead 3. Epigram lead – opens by quoting a common expression, verse or epigram, at least familiar in the locality. Example: Like father, like son. Ramon Garcia, Jr., graduated valedictorian this year. Ten years ago, his father, Mr. Ramon Garcia, Sr., also topped his class and delivered his valedictory address on the same rostrum where the young Garcia delivered his.

18. Novelty Lead 4. Picture lead – describes a person, a place, or an event, at the same time, creating a mental picture of the subject matter in the mind of the reader. Example: The new principal, although only in his early thirties, is already silver-haired. He seldom talks, but when he does, he talks with sense.

19. Novelty Lead 5. Background lead – similar to the picture lead, except that, it describes the setting which may be more prominent than the characters and the events. Example: The PNU campus was turned into a miniature carnival ground on Sept. 1 during the 104 th F-Day celebration of the university. Decorated with buntings and multicolored lights, the quadrangle was a grand setting for a barrio fiesta.

20. Novelty Lead 6. Descriptive lead – used when comparatively few descriptive words can vividly formulate an imagery. Example: Dressed in white polo barong, and with diplomas in their hands, 1,500 graduates marched down the stage to the tune of Osmeña High March.

21. Novelty Lead 7. Parody lead – consists of a parody of a well-known song, poem, or lines. Example: Water, water everywhere, but no water to drink. This was what the flood victims found to their dismay.

22. Novelty Lead 8. Punch lead – a short, forceful word or expression. It is rarely used. Example: Victory Day! Magsaysay High School celebrated on March 18 its fifth victory in the city-wide journalism contests.

23. Novelty Lead 9. One-word lead Example: March! Thus ordered Hi-Y president Joey Lina, Jr. of Osmeña High School to start the “Walk for Health” fundraising drive.

24. Novelty Lead 10. Quotation lead – Consists of the speaker’s direct words which are very striking and which are usually quoted from a speech, a public address, or an interview. Example: “The youth in The New Republic have become partners of the government in its struggle for progress and advancement,” thus spoke PNU Director Rene Romero to some 400 student delegates to the 2006 Hi-Y-Y-teens Leadership Training Seminar held on Dec. 26-30 at the Edilberto Dagot Hall.

25. Novelty Lead 11. Question lead – an answer to a question which is the basis of the news story. Example: Who will reign as Miss Intramurals this year? This will be known on Aug. 8 after the final screening to be held at the PNU Gym and Performing Arts Center.

26. Novelty Lead 11. Staccato lead – a series of short, punchy sentences are strung together to create a sense of urgency, drama, or action. Example: The room slammed. He ran outside. The room was chaotic. People screamed. Sirens blared in the background.

27. Example: Shouts. Placards. Drums. More than 300 students stormed the university gate on Wednesday afternoon to protest the proposed 15-percent tuition fee increase.

28. When to Use Staccato Lead In feature stories or human-interest pieces , especially when you want to dramatize a moment. For campus magazines, literary journalism, or special reports . To grab attention in narratives, not necessarily to deliver straight facts first.

29. When NOT to Use Staccato Lead In hard news/straight news reporting, where clarity, conciseness, and immediacy of facts matter most. Example: A breaking story about exam results or class suspension should use a summary lead , not a staccato one.

30. EXAMPLES OF BAD LEAD (Types of lead to avoid)

31. 1. Too long and wordy “The highly prestigious and much-anticipated annual English Month Culminating Program of the College of Arts and Sciences, which featured various contests such as essay writing, storytelling, and speech choir, was successfully held with great enthusiasm and participation on November 24 at the university gymnasium, attended by students from different year levels and supported by their professors and administrators.”

32. 2. Burying the lead (important fact is hidden later) “Students and faculty gathered at the gymnasium last November 24 for a series of activities. The highlight of the event was the English Month Culminating Program.” Problem: The first sentence is vague. The real story (the event) only appears in the second sentence.

33. 3. Too vague / lacks news value “Something exciting happened on campus yesterday that students will surely remember.” Problem: No 5Ws or 1H, sounds like advertising, not news.

34. 4. Editorializing (expressing opinion in the lead) “Our brilliant and hardworking basketball team crushed their weak opponents in a breathtaking championship game last Saturday.” Problem: Contains bias and loaded words (“brilliant,” “weak,” “breathtaking”). News leads should be factual and neutral.

35. 5. Starting with minor details “The weather was hot and sunny when the university launched its new digital enrollment system last Monday morning.” Problem: The focus is on the weather, not the main news.

36. 6. Too many names/titles in the first sentence “Dr. Juan Dela Cruz, the Vice President for Academic Affairs of XYZ University, together with Dr. Maria Santos, the Dean of the College of Education, and Prof. Ana Reyes, the Head of the Research Department, formally opened the 5th Research Congress on October 12 at the university auditorium.” Problem: Name-heavy and hard to read. Should emphasize the event, not the officials.

37. ACTIVITY Identify the kind of lead used in the following sentences:

38. 1. Supt. Maria Luisa Quiñones was the guest speaker during the investiture of boy scouts held Jan. 15 at Carlos P. Garcia High School.

39. 2. They shall not win! This was announced by Roxas High School basketball coach Gerry Misajon when he spoke to his team before they left for the games.

40. 3. He used to be a mechanic. Now he is president of a college.

41. 4. Who do you think will be elected Miss High School? This, everyone wants o know as Torres High School Day fast approaches.

42. 5. To upgrade the teaching of Journalism, The Torch bought 200 volumes of journalism books recently.

43. 6. Dressed in caps and gowns, and with diplomas in their hands, the graduates sang their farewell song to their alma mater.

44. 7. “This year is indeed Roxas High School Year!” Thus spoke the principal as she received from DCS Supt. Maira Luisa Quinones the trophy won by the school in the National Weightlifting Tournament.

45. 8. There was food and fun galore! The student body of Recto High School held an excursion in La Mesa Dam last Sunday.

46. 9. Having written the best essay on Animal Week, Rosita Limcolioc of Laurel High School received the DCS gold medal from Mayor Atienza.

47. 10. Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. This was the sad experience of Tondo residents when flood waters covered the whole area of the districts.

48. LEAD WRITING Class suspension Incident: Power outage affecting the whole campus Date: September 15, 2025 Result: Morning classes suspended Duration: 4 hours Directions: Write a grammatical beginning lead based on the following facts.