Analysis of News Lead
Bullet may have traveled five blocks to strike Minneapolis Girl
The lead- "An 11-year-old girl is recovering after being shot in the leg while playing in the backyard of her South Minneapolis home on Thursday — but police aren't exactly sure how it happened."
This lead appears to be a fairly straight-forward news lead. In one sentence, the writer sums up the story using the 5 Ws:
Who was involved? A young girl.
What happened? She was shot in the leg.
Where? The backyard of her South Minneapolis home.
When? Thursday night.
Why? Police are unsure.
This lead does add more information than what appears to be the traditional news leads, such as the girl's age and the fact that she was playing in the backyard at the time of the incident. In my opinion, this additional information helps to draw readers into the rest of the story. An 11-year-old being shot is not an everyday occurrence, especially one innocently playing in her own backyard. Mentioning these details in the first sentence brings out questions of whether or not one is safe on their own property, how one can protect their children, and fears about what lies beyond the perimeters of our own backyards.