Speech -- Lotsa Good News!

You guys were under the gun to identify what made this a story; what made it newsworthy. Not that some big-shot was speaking; rather, what was the big-shot saying that was relevant/interesting/useful?

You didn't have a lot of time to figure that out. You were on deadline.

Still, you did your job. Congrats! Let's look at some of the ledes. Tell me which ones you liked the best, and why:

In a speech delivered Sunday night at a Michigan PTA Convention in Detroit, U.S. Surgeon General Tom Izzo addressed the issue of underage drinking as a problematic element of the Halloween season.

(Suggestion: first, why not get rid of the unwieldy "addressed the issue of" and replace it with a "called," like this:)

In a speech delivered Sunday night at a Michigan PTA Convention in Detroit, U.S. Surgeon General Tom Izzo called underage drinking a problematic element of the Halloween season.

(I'd also consider flipping the lede to emphasize what was said over who said it, but I wouldn't say a flip was necessary, especially if you wanted to emphasize the speaker's status. Let's move on now and look at another lede.)

The surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service, Tom Izzo, addressed the issue of the alcohol industry targeting Halloween as a marketing opportunity at a PTA convention in Detroit Sunday night.

(Again, I think this one is a bit heavy with unnecessary words. I'd flip the sequencing of Izzo's title and replace "addressed the issue of" with "alleged," as in Izzo was making an allegation, like this:)

U.S. Public Health Service Surgeon General Tom Izzo alleged the alcohol industry is targeting Halloween as a marketing opportunity at a PTA convention in Detroit Sunday night.

(One other thing; watch your statement placement. Read it literally, it says "the alcohol industry targeting Halloween as a marketing opportunity at a PTA convention in Detroit." That's not what you meant to say, is it? Perhaps the "where" (PTA convention in Detroit) should have been paired next to the who (Izzo) to avoid any potential confusion.

More ledes here:

Just days before Halloween, U.S. Surgeon General Tom Izzo spoke in Detroit Sunday night about the harmful role the alcohol industry plays in the lives of America's youth.

This one brings some different context: it was just before the holiday, which makes the speech more relevant and useful than if it was the day before Easter, for example.

Next:

The alcohol industry is targeting Halloween, a traditional children's holiday, to market their products to a young audience, according to the nation's surgeon general who spoke at a convention in Detroit Sunday evening.

Again, we get context here with the "traditional children's holiday" mention. Next:

Surgeon General Tom Izzo took a stance against alcohol companies' efforts to target Halloween as their latest marketing opportunity.

Straight and to the point, right? Those are juts a few of some really good ones.