Direct lead има смисъла на straight lead, както е използван в параграфа по-долу (http://mtsu32.mtsu.edu:11178/171/leads.htm)

Six rules for writing straight news leads
By Ken Blake, Ph.D.
Middle Tennessee State University

Every news story begins with a lead (pronounced LEED), so learning to write a good lead is the first step in learning to write a good story. Journalists use many different styles of leads, depending on the situation. But most media writing students begin by learning the simplest and most common style: the straight news lead. Below are six rules for writing good straight news leads.

Rule #1: A straight news lead should be a single paragraph consisting of a single sentence, should contain no more than 30 words, and should summarize, at minimum, the most newsworthy "what," "where" and "when" of the story.

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Delayed lead се използва в смисъла описан тук (http://work.colum.edu/~amiller/dl-2.htm):

A delayed lead will often make for more colorful writing. That's one of the reasons you don't use delayed leads very often. Reporters want to be the ones to do the creative writing, and they like it when you provide a solid, factual, newsworthy, summary lead, so they can add their own voices to stories they cover.

Sometimes, however, you will want to write a delayed lead for a press release. Maybe your boss has told you to do something "more creative," or perhaps the client has asked you to show a sense of humor.

с мнения, коментари, разследване и др.

уводна статия (editorial, leader, leading article)

"lead" не е новина или нещо подобно , а похват, вид техника за представяне на новина, материал и пр. Така че по-скоро би трябвало да се преведе като "директно въвеждане/ представяне" и съответно "опосредствено/индиректно представяне/въвеждане". Напр., похватът "direct lead" произвежда "breaking mews" и.т.н.