What is lead?

Within a lead in a news article or story is the five W's; who, what, where, when, why and sometimes how.  These answer some of the questions that people generally want to know right at the beginning of an article as to catch the readers attention.  Generally, leads do not begin with the 'when', but usually comes towards the end of the lead in the possible second or third sentence of the article.  The 'when' could be considered as general information that goes within the new story.

Detailed information that should be included in the lead of an article is information about the 'who' of your story.  This will interest the readers of the story because people love hearing about others life especially in the lifestyle we lead nowadays.  The 'where' is also an important factor in the lead.  This is because the closer something is to home, or the more local, the more the audience is going to be interested.  If there is, for example, a plane crash in California and there was a resident from the Minneapolis aboard the plane then newspapers may include a story about the passenger from Minneapolis.  The 'what' of a story is also something that should be included in the lead because it ties the 'who' into the story and why they are important the article.

If the story that is being written is going to be included in a magazine and may not be straightforward hard-news than the lead may not be as short and simple as one for a newspaper.  The author of the article can take more time to introduce what they will be talking about to the reader.  The five W's may be left out in for the first few sentences or may even be placed in the second or third paragraph of the magazine article.  Writing more feature news allows for the author to be more mysterious in the beginning of their article instead of grabbing the attention of the reader right away because they know that the reader will continue to read the article no matter what.

Toyota recalls top selling cars is America

Toyota has recalled multiple models and temporarily halted production those cars due to gas pedal sticking.  The company began the recall last week, but stopped production of their cars until they can find a solution for the problem.  It has been found that many the gas pedals in certain Toyota car models stick and cause the car to continue accelerating.  Toyota is upset that they have to go to such lengths, but in the long run will be safer for their customers and their company.

The recall is not only causing problems for customers in America, but also to car dealerships throughout the United States.  Many dealerships have a shortage of inventory because they are not able to sell certain Toyota models.  Most of the cars that are being recalled are recent models of the past 4 years.

Toyota hopes to  find a remedy quickly for the problem and will offer free repairs to both car owners and to those service shops that do any repairs.  Although some drivers are frustrated with the recall, they respect Toyota for being honest and fixing the problem as soon as possible.

For a list of the models that have been recalled please visit Kare 11 News.

U of M student shot near residence hall

A first year student of the University of Minnesota was shot around 11 Monday night in front of Centennial Hall.  The shooting is suspected to be associated with two other crimes that happened on campus around the same time Monday night.  According to The Minesota Daily the student who was attacked, Timothy Schumacher was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center shortly after the incident and underwent surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.  The student was confronted by two suspects who were armed and attacked the victim.

The victim did not provoke the two suspects and was unarmed.  So far no one has been arrested and the University is hoping that they can use security cameras around the attacks to identify the suspects involved in the three crimes.

The other crimes that took place was a robbery of a female student on Huron Blvd. about five blocks east of the shooting and another robbery about a block west of the shooting of two female students.  The other victims lost their possessions, but escaped unharmed.

Commercial airliner crashes in the Medditerranean

The commercial flight carrying 90 passengers headed towards the Ethiopian capital crashed in the early hours of Monday morning, reported the Kare 11 News. The airliner caught fire shortly after takeoff and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea just off the shore of Lebanon, but the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. So far there have been no survivors found in the search on the sea, but search crews including the U.S. Navy will continue to look for survivors. There have been an uncertain number of bodies found from the waters ranging from a dozen to 20 bodies.

There is no suspected terrorism behind the plane crash and any "sabotage" has been dismissed.  The flight had take off into a storm that had been occurring since Sunday and has not been ruled out in a cause of the fire or crash.

Currently, the wreckage is being gathered during the search in the waters.  Pieces of the plane have slowly been recovered including items and luggage from on board.  Other debris is also washing up on the shores that are also being recovered.  The search crews hope to find the black boxes that are within in the cockpit of aircrafts for more answers of the plane crash.  Crews are working removing the fuselage from the water in hopes to find more answers and bodies.