ociated Press to its correspondents:

A plain statement of fact is the best introduction to a news story. A
simple, direct style--which does not mean a wooden style--is always
desirable. In the opening sentence it is of particular value.

The news which a story contains is the one thing which entitles it to
place in the Associated Press report. It is the news, not the manner of
telling the news, on which the story must stand. It is therefore
essential to present the vital point at the outset, in such form as will
enable the reader to grasp it quickly, clearly and easily. For this
purpose there is no acceptable substitute for plain English.

In an effort to make the most vivid and emphatic impression at the
opening, objectionable forms of construction often are employed. A
highly-colored or strained introduction almost always fails of its
purpose of enlisting interest at once, since it tends to divert the
attention of the reader from the subject-matter of the story to the
writer's manner of telling it. This renders the introduction cloudy and
lessens interest instead of stimulating it. Once the main point is
established, the well known rules of news writing should be observed.

To say that "'William Brown may obtain a fair trial in Greene County,'
Judge Smith so ruled today," is to misstate the facts. It places the
Associated Press on record as making a statement made by the court. Use
of this and similar introductory sentences which require subsequent
qualification is objectionable.

Opening sentences frequently lose directness and clearness because of
the effort to crowd too much into them. All that is essential is to
cover the vital point, leaving details for subsequent narration.

Introductions must be impartial. It is possible to take almost any given
set of statements and present them in such a way as to convey any one of
several shades of meaning. This may depend merely on the order of
presentation. Associated Press stories must be accurate and accuracy
involves not only the truthfulness of individual statements but the
co-relation of these statements in such a way as to convey to the reader
a fair and unbiased impression of the story as a whole. An account of a
court proceeding, a political debate, or any other event which involves
conflicting claims or interests, should not be introduced by singling
out a particular phase of the story which is limited to one side of the
controversy, simply because that is t