[whatwg] lede element

Thomas Broyer t.broyer at gmail.com
Wed Oct 3 00:44:37 PDT 2007


2007/10/2, Stijn Peeters:
>
>  Rachid Finge schreef:
>  The term 'lede' is more commonly spelled as 'lead' by journalists
> throughout the world. It seems like a sensible idea, although I'm wondering
> why you added the P element in your example.
>
>  I'm not an expert on this, but wikipedia distinguishes them (of course
> wikipedia is not absolute truth):
>
>  "Lede (pronounced /lid/) is a traditional spelling, from the archaic
> English, used to avoid confusion with the printing press type formerly made
> from lead or the typographical term 'leading'." [1]

Wikipedia contradicts itself (emphasis mine):
In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_paragraph :
"Often called just "the lead", it [...] must be *at least three
sentences long.* [...]The usual spelling in American journalism is
lede."
In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_graf :
"In most news stories, the essential facts of a story are included in
the lede (or lead), the *first sentence or two* of the story."

>  Anyway, I think this is a sensible idea indeed.

That's my opinion too. An <article> would start with a <header>
containing its title, author, publication date, followed by the <lede>
(inside a <p> for a lede, or as a block-level container for a nut
graf) and then the article body. The lede/nut graf could eventually be
included in the <header> instead of following it (à la Libération.fr).

-- 
Thomas Broyer


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