lede

I call them "weather ledes" because they invariably provide an account of the atmospheric conditions on whatever day Something Has Happened in some foreign clime.

The most common stated reason for writing boring ledes is that writers don't have time to fashion interesting ledes.

* "For the past 30 years I have worked in print journalism, p.r., and technical communication, and in all my experience have never seen the word 'lede' used (where I would expect it to be 'lead') and I can find no reference that explains your usage or spelling to me," e-mails Sandie Osborne, who is senior proposal manager at The Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, Hawaii.

The Times' blog, The Lede, summed it up this way: "The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, reported this morning in The Times, appears to have achieved the distinction of being both highly expected and, somehow, not expected all."

The tweet was quickly deleted, though not before it was acknowledged by the flotilla's own feed: "We are thrilled to receive the support of #OccupyWallStreet Looks like only the 1% support the Israeli blockade of Gaza." It was also picked up by the New York Times' Lede blog.

The Washington Post put it right in the lede, but merely used the word "controversial" : "Seven fifty-five, the most cherished number in baseball if not all of American sports, lived a good, long, noble life.

-- please excuse that solecistic new millennium in the lede ...

Then the heading: "Latest Updates from the Lede Blog."

Prime Minister Netanyahu delayed a planned trip to Moscow (from which President Abbasyes, to bury a lede, both Bibi and Abbas were going to be in Moscow at the same timecondemned the bombing, as did Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Now some of his former colleagues in the paper's bureau there have started posting tributes on the Times' "The Lede" blog.