The One-Sentence/Long-Sentence Habit of Writing Leads and How it Hurts Readership

Abstract

Staff-produced stories in 12 outstanding metropolitan newspapers were analyzed. Sentence length in lead paragraphs clearly exceeded lengths in the three paragraphs that followed, and leads for most papers were “difficult” to read. In contrast, “comprehension” for paragraphs 2 through 4 was much greater. The one-sentence lead writing habit is blamed for reducing readability. An extensive campaign to improve lead readability, along with specific methods, is offered.