> THE MOVING VAN from Sacramento chokes its way through Miami's thick August air.
I immediately stop reading articles that start like this, because I don't know how many paragraphs it will go on for.
I immediately stop reading articles that start like this, because I don't know how many paragraphs it will go on for.
I learned about "Bottom Line Up Front"¹ via an article that popped up here on HN a few weeks (?) ago². I've since made a concerted effort to apply that strategy to all my writing³, and I believe those writing news stories ought to do the same.
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¹: For those unfamiliar with BLUF, in short: start with the main point, then layer on further explanation. BLUF's a military term, but it's pretty similar in concept and purpose to writing an abstract in an academic paper, or the SYNOPSIS section of a manpage.
²: https://www.animalz.co/blog/bottom-line-up-front/
³: At least in professional-ish settings, e.g. work emails, reports, documentation, etc.