Feature vs. Summary Leads

Without a good lead, stories cannot succeed in drawing in the reader.  The lead is one of the most important parts of the story.  A feature lead is one that gives the reader a taste of what is to come, without revealing too much.  It should be interesting and thought-provoking to entice the audience to read further.  Summary leads give more of the facts, but well-written ones will give the readers reason to continue.  

One good feature lead I found was on CNN.com at http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/stem.cell.therapy/index.html.  The story is about U.S. citizens trying stem cell treatments in other countries.  It begins with "It's shortly after 5 a.m. when the phone rings, and on the line is a clearly anxious and worried parent."  This gives very little detail about the story to come, but anyone with children would be able to relate to this situation, even if they haven't had to go through it personally.  

Another good feature lead I found was on the Time magazine website at http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902265,00.html, and was about the planned restructuring of General Motors, which recently filed for Chapter 11.  The lead is: "Before the new General Motors Corp. envisioned by the Obama administration can take wing, the remains of the old GM will have to be buried."  Most people never imagined that one of the biggest corporations in the world, as well as one of the United States largest employers, would be in the situation they are today.  With the economy in the poor state that it is, many major companies are in trouble.  Even though people are dealing with their own problems, they still worry about problems that are facing others.