Short Report vs. Summary Lead

I found recently the importance of a short report and a summary lead. I had not known that either were essential until I read about them and what their purposes are. It was challenging for me to distinguish the minor differences between them, but since I have extended my knowledge I am becoming more adept at it. Here is one example of each.

Short Report

"One Baltimore public school is closed to students today.

Dr. Rayner Browne Elementary/Middle School, at 1000 N. Montford Ave., has electrical problems. Staff at the school are asked to report to the Professional Development Center."

Definition: Short reports, like this one that I found in the Baltimore Sun can be written as a bulletin, which usually contain 1 to 2 sentences. Bulletins are released to reach the public quickly. Another form is an e-mail alert, which effectively reaches people who lack other forms of communication such as radio and television. These e-mail alerts, for example, are helpful to people who work because most of the time they do not have access to a radio or a television. Crawlers are another form of a short report, which abreviate stories that are not newsworthy enough to make it into the news. The final form is a newspaper briefs. A newspaper brief is the print version of a crawler.

Summary Lead

Rescue crews fanned out across the flooded Gulf Coast yesterday, searching for tens of thousands of Texans who ignored mandatory evacuation orders just before Hurricane Ike crashed ashore in the night with howling winds and a powerful tidal surge.


Definition: Summary leads, such as this one, found in the Baltimore Sun, are the introductory statement of online or print news stories. Usually, summary leads are in past tense and include a time element. This includes the 5W's and 1 H. It helps the reader get a feel of the story from the introduction while also keeping the story brief and to the point but also allowing it to have detail.