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Leads

If we lead a story we should say directly below the headline in an "Eds:" line what is new in the story. A phrase such as "updates throughout" is insufficient. An Eds line is not essential with a roundup. The following examples show how headings should look:

Currency-Stocks/
Euro firmer against U.S. dollar =

   Frankfurt (dpa) - The euro was priced at 1.0164 dollars at the start of trading Monday ...


Currency-Stocks/
1ST LEAD: Euro falls slightly against U.S. dollar
Eds: Adding quotes, later market rates =

   Frankfurt (dpa) - After an early gain, the euro fell back and was priced Monday at ...


Mideast-Palestinians/
ROUNDUP: Palestinians demonstrate in Lebanon for peace =

   Beirut (dpa) - More than 20,000 Palestinians demonstrated ...


Germany-Government/
2ND ROUNDUP: Parliament approves new German budget
Eds: Changing dateline from Hamburg to Berlin, adding quotes
By Jeff Morgan, dpa =

   Berlin (dpa) - The German parliament Thursday approved ...

The desks sometimes combine complex subjects involving more than one roundup into a leadall. Leadalls carry no dateline. They are bylined: By Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Embargoes

Embargoes are noted in second line of the header:

Britain-Amnesty/
EMBARGOED for release at 2201 GMT
Amnesty International condemns human rights abuses =

   London (dpa) - Amnesty International said Monday that human ...

Features

Apart from the timeless feature, dpa also runs byliners categorized as NEWS FEATURE (two words, not one), ANALYSIS, PROFILE, BACKGROUND, etc:

Kenya-Flamingoes/
FEATURE: Experts puzzled over vanishing Kenyan flamingo paradise
By Ben James, dpa =

   Nairobi (dpa) - In the mud ...


Bosnia-Ceasefire/
BACKGROUND: Events leading up to latest ceasefire =

   Sarajevo (dpa) - The ceasefire signed Tuesday. ...

Urgents

As a rule, urgent stories should be limited to one paragraph or two at the most. Additional information can be filed in a brief second take. A more detailed lead should follow as soon as possible. An urgent must go out as an "ee" priority.

Indonesia-Earthquake/
URGENT: ••••• Earthquake rocks northern Sumatra =

   Jakarta (dpa) - People in the northern Sumatra town of ...

The urgent line contains five bells. In PEN software the bells can be written with AltGr + G

Adds

We no longer normally run adds to stories, but may do so if there is a minor addition to available information within 60 minutes of a story having been thoroughly rounded up, e.g.

Germany-Government/
2ND ROUNDUP 1ST ADD: Parliament approves ... =

   Earlier in the day, lawmakers voted ...

Sports results routinely run as adds through the day.

Prompt
Filing

Please remember to report on important developments as they happen! Don't wait until the end of the day to file your story!

An opening item on an important parliamentary debate followed by a lead or roundup is better than a single story late in the day. A brief item summing up the end of an important conference should be filed before getting down to writing a lengthy roundup. If a story needs to be updated with a lead it should always be wrapped up in a roundup.

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