Chapter 07 True/False Self-Quiz

. Preparation for a story begins when the reporter starts gathering information.

. The central point of a story should always appear in the lead.

. The lead is the most important part of a story.

. The lead should answer all six of these questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

. In many stories, the names of the main subjects are not as important as what those people did or what happened to them.

. A "blind lead" hides the central point of the story.

. Leads should omit many names, particularly those readers are unlikely to recognize or those of people who played minor or routine roles in a story.

. Leads can be too long, but they cannot be too short.

. Journalists should avoid using active verbs because they make stories seem too sensational.

. A lead containing an obvious fact or a fact the reporter has witnessed or verified by other means generally does not require attribution.

. Journalists should always begin a lead with attribution.

. In order to write clear stories, journalists should relay events in chronological order.

. The style of writing found in newspapers makes it easy for the public to read and understand leads but difficult for reporters to write them.

. Most leads are a single sentence, and that sentence must follow all the normal rules for punctuation, grammar, word usage and verb tense.

. Reporters should always know what the central point of their stories will be before they begin gathering information and should not rethink the central point after they have begun.

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