Analyzing the Art of Hooking Readers

    With the new world of online news, the lead of a story is the key to capturing and holding a reader’s attention. This will determine whether or not a reader will stay and dive deeper into the narrative or scroll past. There is very little room for error, and today we will dissect three desperate leads from different internet news sites.

    Lead One: The Purdue OWL gives a comprehensive breakdown of different types of leads that are used in journalism, and it emphasizes the key of having hooks that grab readers from the beginning. The many different types of leads all serve their own purpose of drawing a reader in. The lead of this website introduces the topic of leads and gives readers a source for further exploration. It answers an important question of where more information can be found for journalists. It doesn’t however dive into specific examples of leads. It accomplished its purpose, but could be improved.

    Lead Two: CNN’s headline stands out across the front page of their website and had a photo that really gripped the readers attention as it alluded to the breaking story. When clicked upon, the lead strategically sets the stage for the entire article by grabbing the reader’s interest without giving them too much information. The lead answers the following questions, but briefly: who, what, where, when, and an overall understanding of all the events that happened. I may have not addressed the why behind the story, but it might’ve been strategically left out in order to pull the reader in. This lead was extremely engaging and overall effective.

    Lead Three: Buzzfeed’s colorful homepage had many headlines that stood out, partnering with images that caught the eye, all having something to do with trends and stories that were buzzing on the internet. When clicking upon an article, the reader is greeted by a lead that is more like a conversation than a traditional news approach. This catches and draws the reader in, with very relatable language and vocabulary, tapping into the target audience, their perspective of the world, and their interests. The lead effectively captured the what and why of the story, but might not have had the seriousness that’s normally expected. This might’ve cut out some viewers, but overall, the lead was probably effective in reaching the target audience.

    To conclude, leads are an art as one has to carefully balance how they will use them to hook particular readers and keep them reading. Analyzing leads from successful internet news sites can help one learn how they can employ using leads in their own journalism journey.

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