Separating fact from fiction over the myth of the uncaring bystander

THE reader has a life. The reader wants the writer to get to the point, rather than spend time revving on the spot. The reader can be distracted by the letters down below or the leading article alongside.

The first paragraph, therefore, is vital. Holding on to busy readers means that every columnist sweats blood on their opening paragraph, figuring that if you grab the reader warmly by the throat in the first hundred words then, with luck, the reader may stay with you for the rest of the piece. The same principle applies even more forcefully to news stories in all media and always has.

Here’s the opening paragraph of a story published by one prestigious newspaper.