Hanging out with my Shorty.

“ExxonMobil agrees to $4 million settlement,” is an example of a short report used by the Baltimore Sun. This is a great example because it tells the audience exactly what ExxonMobil will do to make amends for its leakage. A short report more specifically aims to capture the audience’s attention quickly and efficiently in the fewest number of words.

Here is a link to this interesting story: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bay_environment/bal-settlement0916,0,5362850.story

Photo by: Richard Perry/The New York Times
"The scene Tuesday outside American International Group's building in Lower Manhattan." (New York Times). Story below.

In today’s news, one of the best summary leads read, “in an extraordinary turn, the Federal Reserve was close to a deal Tuesday night to take a nearly 80 percent stake in the troubled giant insurance company, the American International Group, in exchange for an $85 billion loan, according to people briefed on the negotiations.” This lead works very well to inform the reader immediately because it answers the ever-important questions we need answers to. Although the lead is a bit long coming in at 45 words, I found the following information:

Who: Federal Reserve
What: a deal to take a stake in the troubled giant insurance company
When: Tuesday night
Why: exchange for an $85 billion loan

Unfortunately, the lead does not include the where or how. This information is found in the next paragraphs. Not having every W and the H answered from the beginning makes me as a reader want to continue reading past the lead. This lead also gives proper attribution to its source.

This article can be found at the link below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/17insure.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin