A Good Lead

Paper: The Miami Herald
Title: A Familiar Florida Ritual: Victims See Lives Suddenly Thrown into Chaos
Date: February 3, 2007
Author: Marc Caputo

Lead:
LADY LAKE -- Jeannette Boyd's family is still looking for her teeth.

This story details the experience of sorting through the rubble left after tornadoes ripped through a blue-collar/retirement area in February. The lead is unusual and attention-grabbing. Furthermore, the anecdote is maintained throughout the story as Caputo returns to the idea of missing dentures numerous times. The title of the story hints at what it is about and the lead engages the reader in an unusual and personal way. In my opinion, it would be hard not to read this story given the title and, most importantly, the lead.

The Sally Field of Journalism

The 1981 film Absence of Malice, starring Sally Field and Paul Newman, is filled with intrigue and, unfortunately, shoddy journalism. Sally Field’s character is a reporter for a fictional Miami based newspaper who regularly makes fundamental reporting blunders. Among these mistakes are drinking on the job, going with a story after communicating with only one source, and maintaining romantic relationships with sources. While the film is intended to make a statement about truth and the effects of what is considered true, we could also use the film as a “what not to do” for our future careers in the field of journalism. What’s more, Field’s editor encourages some of her flawed tendencies, which underscores the importance of a good editor for a young reporter. Regrettably, Sally Field’s character had an incompetent editor and therefore had to learn correct reporting habits the hard way – through trial and error.