The Question Lede: To Use or Not to Use?

As I was browsing over USA Today, I spotted a textbook no-no: the controversial question lede.

The article, “With cities’ programs for the poor, it pays to save,” is on the front page of today’s USA Today and also available online.

The story begins with a question lede, a lede that our textbook and many editors call weak, lazy, and irritating. However, while our textbook clearly emphasizes that we should usually reconsider question ledes, it also makes it clear that it is “possible to craft clever, engaging questions that hook us into reading further.” (I believe that we also had a similar short discussion on this in class a week or two ago.)

I personally believe that question ledes should be avoided; I have tried to stay away from them myself when writing for this class. However, I think that the question lede in this USA Today story actually works. Here is the beginning of the article:

LEDE: “Should people be paid to behave responsibly? Some cities believe so.”
NUT GRAF: “New York wants poor people to save money, so it is offering a big incentive to encourage them to do so: a 50% match of up to $250 if they put money from their federal earned-income tax credit into a savings account and keep it there for a year.”

I like this lede. I think that the question sums everything up and gets right to the juice of the story, but also really catches the reader’s attention and engages them. I think this article goes to show that sometimes question ledes can work…but only sometimes!