Coding Horror: August 2005 Archives: "Journalists have long adhered to the inverse approach: start the article by telling the reader the conclusion ('After long debate, the Assembly voted to increase state taxes by 10 percent'), follow by the most important supporting information, and end by giving the background. This style is known as the inverted pyramid for the simple reason that it turns the traditional pyramid style around. Inverted-pyramid writing is useful for newspapers because readers can stop at any time and will still get the most important parts of the article."