JOURNALIST 101 LESSON OF THE WEEK IS FEATURE WRITTING What Are Feature Stories? • Feature stories are human-interest articles that focus on particular people, places and events. • Feature stories are journalistic, researched, descriptive, colorful, thoughtful, reflective, thorough writing about original ideas. • Feature stories are popular content elements of newspapers, magazines, blogs, websites, newsletters, television broadcasts and other mass media. While journalists reporting late-breaking hard news dont have enough preparation time and copy length to include much background and description, writers of features have the space and time to evoke imagery in their stories and fill in details of the circumstances and atmosphere. • A feature story is not meant to report the latest breaking news, but rather an in-depth look at a subject. • Feature articles range from the news feature that provides sidebar background to a current event hard news story, to a relatively timeless story that has natural human interest. Typical types : There are many kinds of feature stories. Here are some popular types: • Human Interest: The best-known kind of feature story is the human-interest story that discusses issues through the experiences of another. • Profiles: A very common type of feature is the profile that reveals an individuals character and lifestyle. The profile exposes different facets of the subject so readers will feel they know the person. • How-To: These articles help people learn by telling them how to do something. The writer learns about the topic through education, experience, research or interviews with experts. • Historical Features: These features commemorate important dates in history or turning points in our social, political and cultural development. They offer a useful juxtaposition of then and now. Historical features take the reader back to revisit an event and issues surrounding it. A variation is the this date in history short feature, which reminds people of significant events on a particular date. • Seasonal Themes: Stories about holidays and the change of seasons address matters at specific times of a year. For instance, they cover life milestones, social, political and cultural cycles, and business cycles. • Behind the Scenes: Inside views of unusual occupations, issues, and events give readers a feeling of penetrating the inner circle or being a mouse in a corner. Readers like feeling privy to unusual details and well kept secrets about procedures or activities they might not ordinarily be exposed to or allowed to participate in. Non-fiction stories Feature stories are journalistic reports. They are not opinion essays or editorials. They should not be confused with creative writing or works of fiction. • The writers opinions and attitudes are not important to the story. • The writer keeps herself or himself out of the story. • Writing in the third person helps maintain the necessary distance. Telling stories Hard news stories report very timely events that have just occurred. Feature stories, on the other hand, are soft news because they are not as timely, not as swiftly reported. Feature writers have the extra time to complete background research, interviews and observation for their stories. Here are some suggestions for polishing feature writing skills and developing an eye for feature story ideas. • Feature stories give readers information in a pleasing, entertaining format that highlights an issue by describing the people, places, events and ideas that shape it. • The power of a feature story lies in its ability to amplify the focus on an issue through first-rate story telling, irony, humor, human appeal, atmosphere and colorful details. • Features have a clear beginning, middle and end and are longer than hard-news stories. Gathering data Journalists use three tools to gather information for stories: observation, interview and background research. After completing these, the writer brings the story to life through colorful description, meaningful anecdotes and significant quotes. • These elements are obtained when interviewing and observing by jotting down everything encountered – smells, noises, colors, textures, emotions, details seen and heard in the surroundings. • The journalist keeps an open mind while interviewing subjects and researching sources. • The writer avoids steering the story or imposing personal ideas on the sources. • The writer avoids deciding on the theme of the story until sufficient information has been gathered to show a direction or point of view. NICE RIGHT?? LETS HEAR FROM YOU!!!!
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 07:53:18 +0000
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