STUDY OF 100 TYPICAL STORIES
To ascertain the favorite newspaper method of beginning the story, chiefly from the point of view of sentence structure, the writer examined 100 first-page stories in sixteen of the leading daily newspapers of the country. This is the result, tabulated:
| Beginning with subject of main verb | 71 |
| Beginning with modifying phrase or clause | 23 |
| Beginning with direct quotation | 4 |
| Beginning with “There is” | 2 |
In other words, 71 per cent. opened with a simple, direct statement of fact, with the qualifying parts subordinated. Twenty-three per cent. opened with a qualifying phrase or clause containing some feature of the story, as “thanks to the wireless telegraph,” “dragged more than 100 feet” and “unless a court ruling interferes.” Four per cent. began with a striking quotation, while only 2 per cent. used the “there is” structure in the first sentence.
Of the seventy-one stories that began with the main clause, twenty-two put names first. In nearly every such case the name was that of some widely known person, either nationally or in the community in which the paper is published, such as the President, a governor or a chief of police.
Only six of the 100 stories began with a subordinate phrase in the participial form. One story opened by answering the question “why” in a “because” clause and two opened with “although.” Not one gave the time or the place first in the sentence. In no case was the introductory sentence long or involved.
The figures here compiled are instructive in showing that the modern news writer wastes no time in preliminaries, but goes straight to the heart of his story.
The first words of twenty typical leads of the 100 examined, indicating their sentence structure, are here given:
Eleven men were killed ...
With two of the leading families of Monroe county arrayed against each other ...
Two chivalrous firemen rescued ...
Stirred by the disclosures ...
With the arrival of the steamship ...
Business reverses are said to have been the cause ...
Evidence tending to prove that ...
The United Wireless Station ...
Three hundred insurgents ...
Governor Hadley’s statement ...
Sure of a prompt response ...
A general denial ...
Declaring the farmer to be the last person considered ...
President Taft ...
A verdict of ...
The results of the ...
With a dead man at the steering wheel, an automobile ...
The “wet” or “dry” issue ...
Indictment of twelve men ...
Complaints have reached ...