... were thrown off by the press release starting so heavily with
background about the survey before moving on to what the survey found.
That
led many of you to offer generic background on the survey -- it's been
conducted since 1942, it polls 50,000 households, ect. -- ahead of what
the survey found regarding Internet use -- most households now use
computers, and the number has drastically grown over the past few
decades.
And it led some of you to lede with the fact a survey was taken, rather than what the survey discovered!
All
because something is first in a press release -- or a city council
meeting, or a football game -- doesn't mean it's worth prominent mention
or a lede. Your lede is based on the Peanut Barrel values we've
discussed all semester (and in that case, it's not, Hey! A survey was taken!
right?) and where you rank information is based on most relevant to
least relevant, and not necesarily the order in which things were
presented.
Don't fall for the sequence trap. Rank information on value to the reader and support for your story's central premise.
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