For us to correctly form a proper nut graf, we must correctly identify what the central point of the lede is.
Here was a common lede/nut graf pairing for this exercise:
The major findings of the U.S. Census
Bureau are showing that owning a computer and use of the Internet are becoming
common among many American households.
Each
month the U.S. Census Bureau conducts the Current Population Survey
(CPS), a large nationally represented survey of approximately 50,000
households, at
regular intervals for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over time, the CPS
has
come to be used as a tool for measuring a wide variety of economic,
demographic
and social conditions of the U.S. population on a recurring basis.
And here's the problem: based on the nut graf, you would think the major premise of the lede is that the census bureau had a study. That's because the nut graf details what the study is and how it's conducted.
But let's think back to what makes a good lede: it's not that something happened (e.g., MSU played Notre Dame in football); it's what, exactly, happened (MSU beat Notre Dame 107-0).
Based on that, the central premise here isn't that there was a study; it's what the study found.
In this following lede/nut graf pairing, the correct question created by the lede isn't that there was a study; it's that the study found dramatic growth, so what was that growth, and how was it dramatic? Then the nut graf answers that by providing statistics that indeed show dramatic growth:
The United States
Census Bureau recently conducted a survey focused on household computer and
Internet use, showing dramatic growth in computer ownership since 1984.
Personal computers
first began to enter households in the early 1980s with 8.2 percent of homes
owning a computer, according to the study. That number has increased to 61.8
percent of 113.1 million American households today.
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