COM 209: Highest office(s) in the land

We'll pause today in the leadup to next year's presidential race in order to take a look at coverage in The Chicago Tribune of the election for the highest office in the land -- mayor of Chicago -- and the second highest -- seats on Chicago City Council.

Mayor Richard Daley won. That was expected. Here's a link to the Trib's story on the mayoral race. Read the first few grafs and ask yourself, "How much of this could have been written a long time before the votes were counted?" Best answer: Most of it. I'd guess it was written over the weekend. Look at the paragraph that begins, "Daley's victory came despite an ongoing federal investigation into City Hall contracting and hiring fraud ..." I'll bet that's where the "B matter," or previously written background, began.

[Stories like this are sometimes called "Lede to Come" stories, i.e. they're written so they start in the middle with the lede to come later. It's abbreviated "LTK," by the way because newspaper people have notoriously bad handwriting and "C" could like like just about anything.]

Here's another "LTK" story, concerning 42nd Ward Ald. Burton Natarus, who lost his re-election bid last night. Here's the lede, by Rick Pearson and David Kidwell. Pearson, BTW, is the Trib's top political writer:

After 35 years and nine consecutive victories, Ald. Burton Natarus was defeated Tuesday by challenger Brendan Reilly in a contest that measured whether downtown's 42nd Ward had grown tired of the colorful antics of the City Council mainstay.

With 97 percent of the precincts counted, unofficial results showed Reilly with 55 percent of the vote to Natarus' 45 percent.

Reilly claimed victory.

"We're thrilled with the results, and I'm looking forward to working with Mayor Daley to make downtown Chicago an even greater place to live and work," Reilly said.

But Natarus wasn't conceding the race. Supporters greeted the alderman at the Bella Lounge on North State Street with two minutes of raucous applause. Instead of election results, TV screens showed a PBS underwater documentary.

"I concede nothing," Natarus said later. "I'm going to wait for the vote to come in."

Late Tuesday night, Natarus left his party, telling reporters, "If I don't make it, just remember, I'm going to apply for my pension.

"I've had a good run," he said. "I've had my time."

Great quotes! Notice how Reilley, the winner, comes first. Then the ever-quotable Natarus.

Then the transition to "B matter," a couple of throwaway grafs later:

Natarus, 73, had the second-longest tenure on the council, behind only Ald. Edward Burke (14th), in a ward known as the public face of the city, encompassing the Loop, North Michigan Avenue, River North, Streeterville and the Gold Coast. ...

And so on to the end of the story.

Why write it that way? Why not begin at the beginning and take it from there? Time, mostly. If you have most of your election story written before the polls close, all you have to do is write a new lede when the returns come in and you're ready to put it in the paper. Sometimes in a major election, they'll write two ledes.

One might sound like this: "As expected, Mayor Daley cruised to an overwhelming victory over two contenders ..."

The other might begin, "In a stunning upset, Mayor Daley was defeated by ..."

Either way, you're ready to go as soon as the returns come in.