The Lead Paragraph is a Structural Element of the Article and a Self-contained Text

Abstract

The focus of the proposed article is the introduction, or the lead paragraph, as a necessary element of any media text today. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the views of domestic and foreign media linguists and practicing journalists on the essence of the lead paragraph, its structure and classification principles. The lead paragraph is one of the first structural elements of a modern media text that a reader encounters on a newspaper page. Its task in two or three sentences is not only to interest the potential reader, but also to briefly inform him about the main content of the article. That is why the lead paragraph is considered an independent text within the text. The present study traces the development of the lead paragraph in a dynamic aspect: that is, from the moment it appeared in the middle of the 19th century to the present day. Behavioral analysis suggests that the lead paragraph is a complex branched system that should be analyzed within the framework of a general paradigm. The most attractive for perception by the target audience may be compact introductions, typical for the German and partly for the Russian press.