Journalism terms?

Question

If -30- means "the end" or "finish". What is a term used for a beginning?

Answer 1

There is no particular symbolism used to indicate the beginning of an article or press release. The only reason the ending has a -30- or ### is to let the reader know that they have the entire article and are not missing anything.

Answer 2

The term used for the first paragraph is "lead." Some people spell it lede so it gets caught by spell check if you use the word as a space saver and forget to take it out. Leads should answer the questions "who, what, when, where, why and how."