More ledes; #4 and 5

Lede #4

With an identity theft rate above the national average in Towson, victims may soon benefit from a proposed website to help cardholders see if their numbers have been stolen, a state representative says.

Lede #5

The Maryland Department of Education will award 53 school districts with 30 million dollars, 1.2 million going to the Towson school district alone.

Ledes Practice

1) Mayor Sabrina Datolli's husband, Roger Datolli, 67, suffered a broken leg after being involved in a vehicle accident Thursday afternoon.

2) City council members Sandra Gandolf and Alice Cycler raised the issue of the city's historic district's current state and making necessary changes to the six blocks in this month's meeting.

3) Monday, he Department of Energy released Senate's plans of storing nuclear waste in the Nevada desert.

Extra Credit Blog: Comma Use

Rule#1: USe commas in compound sentences when clauses are separated by a conjunction such as "and," "but," "for," "nor," or "yet."

a) I wanted to go to class yesterday, but I wanted to take a nap more.
b) She did not respond to my email yet, but hopefully she will today.

Rule #2 Use Commas to separate elements in a series. Such elements usually are adjectives, verbs, or nouns.

a) Her new boyfriend is tall, dark, and handsome.
b) Bob, Joe, Greg and Ryan dug a big hole.

Rule#3 Use commas when attributing from quoted material.

a) He said, "Hello," and then promptly left.
b) I told her she didn't need to yell, but she kept screaming, "go clean your room."

Rul#4 Commas follow introductory matter.

a) When the horn sounded, they knew half time was over.
b) If we were to build a really big bonfire, how much wood would we need?

Rule#5 Commas follow the salutation of a friendly letter and the complimentary close of any letter.

a) and b)
Dear Darla,
I hate your stinking guts. You make me vomit. You are scum between my toes.

Love,
Alfalfa

-The Little Rascals :-D

Rule #6 Commas follow all items in a date or full address

a) On January 14, 1988, she had her first child.
b) I have wanted to live in Boston, Mass., for as long as I can remember.

Rule #7 Commas surround nonessential words or phrases.

a) As a matter of fact, I would love a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
b) However, I would like strawberry, not grape, jam on the sandwich.

Rule#8 Commas surround words of direct address

a) Alyssa, did you buy milk today?
b) Obviously, Steve, you are not impressed.

Rule #9 Commas indicate omitted verbs, usually expressed in another part of the sentence.

a) They went searching for buried treasure; rum they found.
b) She couldn't dance to save her life; ice skating is a different story.

Chapter 4 - Summary Leads and Examples

A good summary lead can be accomplished by answering the 5Ws and H (who, what, where, when, why and how) in a declarative sentence. Short, sweet, and to the point.

From the NYT:

Anxious over the growing size of the proposed bill, two centrist senators are leading an effort to pare back the $900 billion package that is expected to head to a vote on Thursday.


BAGHDAD — The overwhelming winner of Iraq’s provincial elections was the Dawa party of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, whose candidates garnered the most votes of any party in nine provinces, but they appeared to fall short of being able to operate without coalition-building.

ISTANBUL — The four daily flights to Tel Aviv are still running. The defense contract signed in December has not been scrapped. But since Israel’s war in Gaza, relations with Turkey, Israel’s closest Muslim ally, have become strained.



These are good examples of leads because right in the first one or two sentences, I can tell if the story will interest me enough to keep reading or if I am going to skip the article and move onto the comics. Leads are like an article's hook and can make or break the piece, because all of the important information should be included right there in a couple sentences. The rest of the articles are simply for explanation and analysis with a few quotes.

Chapter 14 Questions

Objectivity is the most scrutinized principles and ethics that journalists have today as it is the idea of keeping their biases out and only stick to the observable facts. If the ball is red, the ball is not an orangey-pink.

Thoroughness involves doing all the work that is to be done, including doing extra work to make sure you have all the facts that you need and then some, just in case.

Accuracy is a very crucial part of journalism. This principle makes sure that names are spelled correctly, there are no misquotes, etc. Ways to make sure accuracy is achieved with each article are to check, then double check everything. During an interview, use a recorder or at the end make sure you run through all info with the inteviewee.

Fairness is different to each journalist, just as the word is different to each person and situation in life, but basically it just means that all sides are covered without blowing one side up. Bob and Bill both deserve the same amount of coverage and the field hockey and soccer teams get the same amount of space in the paper.

When something is transparent, one can see through it. Readers need to be able to see through the story and know where the information came from that is presented.


Some ways to achieve these principles is to double check and triple check to make sure everything is accurate, approach every interview and story with an open mind to avoid objectivity, and within each story, make sure the sources of the info is transparent and obvious.

A little about me

Hey everyone. My name is Alyssa Walker, I am a junior in my second semester at Towson University. I have always had a passion for writing, but am leaning more toward Public Relations instead of journalism these days. However, I am a mass communications major with a focus in both areas currently and a minor in business management.

I currently am a staff writer (the first one!) for College Magazine, a small magazine started about a year ago by a recent college graduate with a big dream. It is more contemporary than campus newspapers and offers more writing, photojournalism, advertising, public relations and lot of other things than most newspapers; written by students, for students. So if you are looking to get published, just go to www.collegemagazine.com and take a look around and contact our publisher!