Why Journalists Spell ‘Lead’ like ‘Lede’

Newspaper journalists have no time to waste.

They have to get quotes from motor-mouthed politicians and deal with looming deadlines. They have to get the story quickly—and correctly. 

That has been the industry mantra for more than a century—long before the internet turned the daily news cycle into a 24/7 centrifuge of information.

Since journalists are working in such a fast-paced environment, it makes sense that over the decades they’ve incorporated shortcuts into their lexicon. They’ve also adopted odd spellings, and although those quirks may befuddle outsiders, they help keep things clear for people with different jobs at a newspaper.  

Each paper has its own nomenclature, but some terms are standard throughout the industry.

‘Lead’ versus ‘lede’

For example, the first paragraph of a news story is the “lead”—BUT—the people working the typesetting machines used metal letters made of lead. Same spelling (L-E-A-D), but a different pronunciation and, of course, a different meaning altogether.

So for clarity, the first paragraph of a news story is the “lede.” That’s spelled L-E-D-E.  It looks funny to outsiders, but that strange spelling, originally used to head off ambiguities, is common among “ink-stained wretches”—also known as journalists.

There are, of course, different kinds of ledes. 

A “hard-news lede” will deliver information about something that just happened:

Two dozen wildfires consumed 16,000 California acres Wednesday, driving thousands from their homes. 

An “anecdotal lede” would take a more-focused approach, often adding a human element to the issue at hand:

Olga Kincaid raced out of her Mariposa home with her four-year-old daughter on her right hip and their beagle tucked under her left arm, heading for her minivan.

In the rear-view mirror, she watched the flaming structure collapse. Meanwhile, her husband, Dennis, was 20 miles east, battling a second blaze as a member of Ladder Company 15.

The Kincaids’ ranch was one of more than 1,500 California homes leveled by dozens of raging wildfires on Wednesday. 

This approach sets aside the abstract notion of wildfires and instead highlights the human drama of those affected. 

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