Surtees

1) Hard News is news that must be published right away. It cannot wait. Soft News is news that is not necessary to be published right away and can wait. Soft news is usually about a trend, an ongoing event, or an interesting person. An example of hard news would be news on when the 9/11 first occured or a murder or kidnapping case. Soft news could be like reviews on a new phone or a well known person visiting your hometown. I would rather report on hard news. It is more interesting and more people want to know what happens so more people would be interested in what you reported on. A hard lead is for a urgent, breaking event. A soft lead is more indirect and more suited to feature writing according to Surtees. I would rather read a hard lead, because it seems like more of an attention getter and would have more interesting material to read.
2) Surtees says a good reporter likes to be surprised by multiple ways, such as, "meeting new people and learning surprising, unexpected--and sometimes amazing--things that makes reporting so rewarding." So he thinks there are multiple ways to surprise your readers. I like surprises sometimes. It depends on the surprise I guess.
3) I have not heard of the name Don Murray.
4) Some of the tip I read that surprised me was to simplify. I like when things are simple, but sometimes when writing I can get a little wordy when I don't need to be. So I think this tip will help me most and it will also keep the attention of my readers to understand what I want them to get the most of.