What's the difference between "hard news" and "soft news?" Give a couple of examples of each? Which would you rather write? Why? What does Surtees mean by the terms "hard lead" and "soft lead?" Which kind of *lede would you rather read?
Hard News is breaking news. Stories that are considered breaking news are happening now or have just happened. Some examples could be an election, or a fire or disaster as stated by Surtees. Soft News is more laid back. It deals with trends and does not have to be published right away. If I was a news writer I would want to write Hard News. I feel it is more important. “A hard lead is suited for an urgent, breaking event, while a soft lead is more indirect and suited to feature writing.”I prefer to read soft leads.
How many different ways does Surtees say a good reporter likes to be surprised, and then surprises his reader? Do you like surprises?
None that I know of, No not really.
Surtees quotes a guy named Don Murray. Have you heard that name before? BTW, have you ordered "the little green book that never goes away" yet?
I have not heard of Don Murray before. Just did.
What did you learn from reading Surtees' tip sheet that surprised you? Why? How can you use this to help find - or fine-tune - your own voice as a writer?
I learned that different stories are written different ways for a reason. I learned there is more organization to journalism. I learned “a news writer must first be a reporter,” which I knew but never really thought about. I learned the qualities of a good story, which are information, significance, focus, context, form, faces, and voice.
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