Drowning -- Peanut Barrel Rule

This exercise is one that's usually tripped up previous 200 classes.

In my fall class, many people went off the rails was in identifying what was the latest AND biggest news. This class was no different.

Many of your ledes were like this one:

The East Lansing Police Department released the identity of the man who tried to save Edward McGorwan from Nichols Lake.

Let's lean on the Peanut Barrel rule: what are you most likely to say first? That the name of the dead rescuer was released? Or that the boy he was trying to save died today? What do you think?

I'd say the latter is clearly more impactful and newsworthy than the release of a name. The latter (a death) is clearly a more momentous happening than the former (the release of a name of someone we already know is dead and isn't a particularly well-known public figure of any sort).

So I liked this lede much better:

The young man who was saved yesterday after nearly drowning in Nichols Lake in Lakeside Park died today, less than a half-hour after he was taken off a respirator upon his mother's request.

. . . and this one, too:

Ten-year-old Edward McGorwan was pronounced dead this morning after a swim in Nichols Lake yesterday turned deadly.

(I do have a nit-pick with the first of these two ledes, though -- is it right to say the boy was "saved?" After all, he did end up dying. Could you have found a better phrase to replace that word, like "pulled from the water?"

Of course, the best lede would try to incorporate BOTH latest happenings, while giving preference to the death over the naming. That's what this lede did:

A young boy left in critical condition after yesterday's Nichols Lake incident died this morning, and police have identified the man who died while trying to save him.

See how that says everything that needs to be said, and hits ultimate outcome(s) the best?