Two Leads, One Story

At the Los Angeles Times, editors had a choice between two ledes. Read each version and select one.

Which do you choose?

I liked story version #1.

Why?

I chose this story version because the openning sentence really caught my attention and helped to create a connection with the vicitims.

Do both versions have the same impact?

I think the first version had a more emotional impact whereas version number two hit hard in the beginning with the raw facts.

How does the emphasis change from version 1 to version 2?

Version #1 did not really get the news out fast enough so there was more emphasis on her story rather than the overall impact of the defective tires.

Is more important to first hear the story of McKinney or to receive the overview?

It depends on who is reporting the story.

Story Version No. 1

On the day Christy McKinney turned 21, she was running an errand with her 7-month-old son, Conner, in her Ford Explorer when the tread on her left rear tire peeled loose, causing her car to sail off an embankment on Interstate 40 near Alma, Ark.

The sport-utility vehicle rolled over twice. Conner was ejected from his baby seat, suffering cuts and bruises to his face. He was the lucky one. His mother was thrown from the vehicle--even though she was wearing her seatbelt, according to her attorney--and landed on the highway's grassy shoulder. McKinney and her son were rushed to a hospital in nearby Fort Smith, where doctors declared her a quadriplegic.

The toll from defective Firestone tires mounted on Ford Explorers has largely been measured by the 101 deaths compiled so far by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. But as investigators delve into about 400 injury cases, story after horrific story emerges, some involving people who have become paraplegics or quadriplegics.

These victims will have to cope with the fact that their life expectancies have been shortened as they face the prospect of raising enough money--sometimes millions of dollars--to pay looming medical bills. The costs also include an emotional toll, changing the lives of these victims' families who must now grapple with caring for their loved ones.

In McKinney's case, her mother, Sheri, was recently forced to give up her job, leave her own 13-year-old son behind, and borrow money from friends and relatives so that she could watch over Christy, who has been transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Story Version No. 2

The toll from defective Firestone tires mounted on Ford Explorers has largely been measured by the 101 deaths counted so far, but as investigators delve into about 400 injury cases they are finding horrific tragedies that have left some victims paraplegics or quadriplegics.

These victims will have to cope with shortened life expectancies as they face the prospect of raising enough money--sometimes millions of dollars--to pay looming medical bills. The costs also include an emotional toll, changing the lives of these victims' families who must now grapple with caring for their loved ones.

The number of people left paralyzed in these crashes is also bringing fresh attention to the tendency of some vehicles' roofs to cave in during rollover accidents, which can cause fatal or crippling head and neck injuries. Consumer safety advocates have criticized the auto makers for not strengthening roofs and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for not toughening the roof-crush standard.

A close look at some of these tragedies, alongside an analysis of government crash data, shows that in many cases the human cost was raised by occupants simply not wearing their seat belts. But in others, the violence of the crash--and the damage to the vehicle--was so extreme that wearing a seat belt was not enough to save passengers or drivers from death or crippling injuries.

Consider the case of Christy McKinney.

On the day she turned 21, McKinney was running an errand with her 7-month-old son, Conner, in her Ford Explorer when the tread on her left rear tire peeled loose, causing her car to sail off an embankment on Interstate 40 near Alma, Ark.

The sport-utility vehicle rolled over twice. Conner was ejected from his baby seat, suffering cuts and bruises to his face. He was the lucky one. His mother was thrown from the vehicle--even though she was wearing her seatbelt, according to her attorney--and landed on the highway's grassy shoulder. McKinney and her son were rushed to a hospital in nearby Fort Smith, where doctors declared her a quadriplegic.