Why I hate "most students"

I don't mean students in general. I mean the phrase "most students." Especially in leads.

Take this one, for example.

For most students, spring break means an entire week tanning on a beach far from New England, but for a group of medical students, spring break will consist of giving back to those in need.

To begin with, most students implies a majority of students, or at least 51 percent. How does the reporter know this? Did he or she take a poll? Doubtful. This lead springs from the mind of the reporter as an assumption is made about how other students think.

Lance's Cardinal Rule No. 1 of Journalism: Never assume. It is not the job of a reporter to assume what others may or may not be thinking.

The second problem with this lead is that it chooses to focus on people who are NOT part of the story and contrast their situation to that of the real subjects of the story. Good leads stick to what the story is about, rather than what it is NOT about. The story referenced above is NOT about students tanning on the beach during spring break, so why waste nearly 20 words on something the story is NOT about?

While the example above was not found in the Future, several examples like it easily can. I was definitely seeing this trend in the latter half of the summer.

By the way, don't try to fix the problem by merely replacing "most" with "some." Yes, you eliminate the majority problem, but you are still making assumptions for those students, and you are still emphasizing something the story is not about.