MODERN FEATURE WRITING TECHNIQUE:The Blundell Technique

<< MODERN FEATURE AND ITS TREATMENT:Readersâ€™ constraints

ADVICE TO FEATURE WRITERS:A guide to better writing, Love Writing >>

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

History

History can be described as one of the main and collectively a major source of features. History is the

record of life in all possible phases and aspects, concerning human beings all over the world. Historical

features may relate to a recent event, or to past events affecting the present.

History can be world history, or national history. There is the Islamic history, replete with great events

and greater personalities, with great feats and achievements their daring and courageous feats of

unparalleled bravery and numerous dashing events. Historical features assist in tracing out the link

between out past institutions and their transmission to the present and then to the coming generations.

History reminds us our cultural, social and economic ties with our social institutions; rather it regularises

and maintains our cordial linkage with our past institutions. It links us with the collective genius of our

ancestors, besides imparting lessons of love for the masses.

In quite cases, besides repeating historical event, both directly or indirectly, feature writers are expected

to be well-versed in historical events and personalities in order to make it as a good source.

Expositional and Instructional Feature

These are instructional and educational features, which can be called multi-purposes features, in which

people are given instruction and explication on those subjects, which needs further explanation rather

repeated lessons. These are the subjects, which are already under the knowledge of the general masses, as

civil defence, traffic rules and regulations or first aid, but are not aware of the detailed information.

These sources of features are generally in the nature, which are meant for the education and instruction of

the general people. Among the expositional and instructional features are included the social and cultural

theories and distinctions, folk songs, evolution of folk lore and literature, their social and cultural values

and inter-relationship, superstitions, latent social values and aspects.

An expositional feature undertakes to study and examine the origin, causes of its persistent existence, folk

and romantic stories traditionally existing for the past hundreds of years. It takes into examination the

nature, persistence, existence scope and structure of folk literature, besides its popularity, significance and

effects. In this category, there are countless sources and further sub-sources of the existence and belief

and faith in mysterious events, their influence and causes of permanent penetration and permeation in the

present social set-up.

Moreover the sources of feature in this category take into scrutiny and study of the social etiquette and

habits and the relevant contribution of different societies in that direction.

As such all those subjects and topics related to the social sub-structure fall in this category of exposition

and instruction.

Investigational Features

Under this category, there are many other features, which require investigation and research on detailed

scale. A good feature is usually based on research methods and investigation, taking the bare facts as tools

and implements and weaving a feature in interesting manner, so as to project it in a befitting manner to

the readers. The objective is to bring out all the possible aspects and angles of the subject concerned. In

fact, these features are closely related to the methods of investigation and research. As such countless

sources of features are invariably connected within the category of investigation and research; which

forms the basic tools and implements for collecting the bare facts and figures, statistics, confirmed events

in order to arrive at the solid conclusion. This process accelerates the speed to suggest and frame future

actions and policies.

Though these features are burdensome and onerous, responsible and weighty which require very hard

work, time-consuming, industriousness and heavy expenses.

In this connection, experimental feature-writing is rarely practised in Pakistan as in the western countries.

As such the relevant sources under this category should be handled immaculately.

The sources of information, instruction, guidance and especially the material and data are derived for the

feature-writing as well as the articles. After the description of the main and major sources, we may briefly

survey the other minor sources in their individuality and uniqueness.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Electronic

Means of communication keep a great deal in picking up the central issues, points and ideals, which are

ideal for writing a feature. These means consist of the Internet, radio and television, where as large

number of programmes are telecast and broadcast, necessarily requires explication and feature-writing.

Fact-to-face include conversation, addresses, sermons, which is really very useful for gathering some

points of public interest on which a feature could be composed in order to instruct, give food for thought

for all.

Printed material may comprise newspapers periodicals, journals, magazines, publicity, advertising,

bulletins, catalogues, and many other forms of printed materials. Their perusal can result in detecting

some striking points and ideals for writing a feature.

Another source may be found in the form of institutions, broad-based as fairs, trades, business, industries,

museums, exhibition, and educational institutions

Social Subjects

Social subjects like conventions, traditions, customs, anniversary days, and holiday are another vast field

of sources for feature-writing, in which an observant feature-writer can find countless subjects for his

features.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 03

INTERNET USAGE IN FEATURE WRITING

No doubt, the Internet has become a huge and valuable source of information for most of the writers, and

people tend to use it more considering the fact that, as they say, it is just a click away. It is one of the most

easily available sources of information to almost everyone at the fastest pace, and it has become hub of

information, which is growing at a fast pace. Due to this reason, the Internet is considered to be the easiest

way of information, and in abundance, surely too.

But for quite a few professionals, it is neither the easiest one nor a straight knowledge, as there are a huge

number of issues to be tackled; otherwise the information gathered can be contentious, controversial,

prejudiced and biased because there are a lot of knowledge bases, which are making them so.

The World Wide Web offers information and data from all over the world. Because so much information

is available, and because that information can appear to be fairly "anonymous", it is necessary to develop

skills to evaluate what you find. When you use a research or academic library, the books, journals and

other resources have already been evaluated by scholars, publishers and librarians. Every resource you

find has been evaluated in one way or another before you ever see it. When you are using the World Wide

Web, none of this applies. There are no filters. Because anyone can write a Web page, documents of the

widest range of quality, written by authors of the widest range of authority, are available on an even

playing field. Excellent resources reside along side the most dubious. The Internet epitomises the concept

of Caveat lector: Let the reader beware.

However, it never means that you should not use it. There are certain issues, which must be tackled by the

journalists, especially from developing countries, like ours.

The purpose of the discussion is to making the usage of the Internet more judicious sans making it

contentious, as the gathering of the information from any dubious source or website can make the write-

up both controversial and unreliable. Hence the idea is to get the `Right kind of material from the right

sources' by clearly identifying the subject, and authenticity of the sources.

Rationale for Evaluating What You Find on the Web

The World Wide Web can be a great place to accomplish research on many topics. But putting documents

or pages on the web is easy, cheap or free, unregulated, and unmonitored. There is a famous Steiner

cartoon published in the New Yorker (July 5, 1993) with two dogs sitting before a terminal looking at a

computer screen; one says to the other 'On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.' The great wealth that

the Internet has brought to so much of society is the ability for people to express themselves, find one

another, exchange ideas, discover possible peers worldwide they never would have otherwise met, and,

through hypertext links in web pages, suggest so many other people's ideas and personalities to anyone

who comes and clicks. There are some real 'dogs' out there, but there's also great treasure.

Therein lies the rationale for evaluating carefully whatever you find on the Web. The burden is on you -

the reader - to establish the validity, authorship, timeliness, and integrity of what you find. Documents can

easily be copied and falsified or copied with omissions and errors -- intentional or accidental. In the

general World Wide Web there are no editors (unlike most print publications) to proofread and 'send it

back' or 'reject it' until it meets the standards of a publishing house's reputation. Most pages found in

general search engines for the web are self-published or published by businesses small and large with

motives to get you to buy something or believe a point of view. Even within university and library web

sites, there can be many pages that the institution does not try to oversee. The web needs to be free like

that!! And you, if you want to use it for serious research, need to cultivate the habit of healthy scepticism,

of questioning everything you find with critical thinking.

Internet as a very sophisticated propagandist

Various anti-religion and anti-Pakistan websites are there, and being a Pakistani journalist, one must

avoid those. Moreover, various groups have their own websites to propagate their own ideologies, which

has also become an `Infectious Enthusiasm' where everyone is trying to match the other. Hence it is

resulting in more biased and prejudiced material.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

On the other hand, blogs, websites are there by immaturish and biased contributors, and special interest

groups, and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Scepticism

A journalist never takes any thing for granted, as he confirms, re-confirms, the information prior to

putting it in words. In simple words he doubts everything until he is certain about that. Besides this, he

is always looking for supporting information and examples before relating it to the readers. However, the

scale for determining level of authenticity may vary from one person to another, but he never falls short

of that.

Be very careful

A journalist must be careful prior to using information regarding any government, Islam and its

injunctions, as these are primary concerns in this part of the world. There are many propaganda sites,

which are claiming to be official though difficult to know and check, but one must be certain.

Secondly, facts and data must be ascertained.

Use of journalistic filters

Is it possible?

How it can be made appear so?

Who can have ulterior motives?

Use of the common sense

It comes from within who, why, when, where and whither?

Website checklist

Authority who is doing it?

Affiliation whether connected with reputable organisation or institution

Accuracy many a time glaring mistakes

Appearance whether well-put together?

Does it make sense having such website connected to a particular institution?

Links to various websites

Is it fair in judgments?

Authorship is perhaps the major criterion used in evaluating information. Who wrote this? When we

look for information with some type of critical value, we want to know the basis of the authority with

which the author speaks. Here are some possible filters:

In your own field of study, the author is a well-known and well-regarded name you recognize.

When you find an author you do not recognize:

The author is mentioned in a positive fashion by another author or another person you trust as an

authority;

· You found or linked to the author's Web/Internet document from another document you trust;

· The Web/Internet document you are reading gives biographical information, including the author's

position, institutional affiliation and address;

· Biographical information is available by linking to another document; this enables you to judge

whether the author's credentials allow him/her to speak with authority on a given topic;

· If none of the above, there is an address and telephone number as well as an e-mail address for the

author in order to request further information on his or her work and professional background. An e-

mail address alone gives you no more information than you already have.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

The publishing body also helps evaluate any kind of document you may be reading. In the print

universe, this generally means that the author's manuscript has undergone screening in order to verify that

it meets the standards or aims of the organization that serves as publisher. This may include peer review.

On the Internet, ask the following questions to assess the role and authority of the 'publisher', which in

this case means the server (computer) where the document lives:

Is the name of any organization given on the document you are reading? Are there headers,

footers, or a distinctive watermark that show the document to be part of an official academic or

scholarly Web site? Can you contact the site Webmaster from this document?

If not, can you link to a page where such information is listed? Can you tell that it's on the same

server and in the same directory (by looking at the URL)?

Is this organization recognized in the field in which you are studying?

Is this organization suitable to address the topic at hand?

Can you ascertain the relationship of the author and the publisher/server? Was the document that

you are viewing prepared as part of the author's professional duties (and, by extension, within

his/her area of expertise)? Or is the relationship of a casual or for-fee nature, telling you nothing

about the author's credentials within an institution?

Can you verify the identity of the server where the document resides? Internet programs such

dnslookup and whois will be of help.

Does this Web page actually reside in an individual's personal Internet account, rather than being

part of an official Web site? This type of information resource should be approached with the

greatest caution. Hints on identifying personal pages are available in `understanding and

Decoding URLs'.

Point of view or bias reminds us that information is rarely neutral. Because data is used in selective ways

to form information, it generally represents a point of view. Every writer wants to prove his point, and

will use the data and information that assists him in doing so. When evaluating information found on the

Internet, it is important to examine who is providing the 'information' you are viewing, and what might be

their point of view or bias. The popularity of the Internet makes it the perfect venue for commercial and

sociopolitical publishing. These areas in particular are open to highly 'interpretative' uses of data.

Steps for evaluating point of view are based on authorship or affiliation:

First, note the URL of the document. Does this document reside on the Web server of an

organization that has a clear stake in the issue at hand?

If you are looking at a corporate Web site, assume that the information on the corporation

will present it in the most positive light.

o If you are looking at products produced and sold by that corporation, remember: you are

looking at an advertisement.

o If you are reading about a political figure at the Web site of another political party, you

are reading the opposition.

Does this document reside on the Web server of an organization that has a political or

philosophical agenda?

o If you were looking for scientific information on human genetics, would you trust a

political organization to provide it?

o Never assume that extremist points of view are always easy to detect. Some sites

promoting these views may look educational.

Many areas of research and inquiry deal with controversial questions, and often the more controversial an

issue is, the more interesting it is. When looking for information, it is always critical to remember that

everyone has an opinion. Because the structure of the Internet allows for easy self-publication, the variety

of points of view and bias will be the widest possible.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Referral to and/or knowledge of the literature refer to the context in which the author situates his

work. This reveals what the author knows about his or her discipline and its practices. This allows you to

evaluate the author's scholarship or knowledge of trends in the area under discussion. The following

criteria serve as a filter for all formats of information:

· The document includes a bibliography.

· The author alludes to or displays knowledge of related sources, with proper attribution.

· The author displays knowledge of theories, schools of thought, or techniques usually considered

appropriate in the treatment of his or her subject.

· If the author is using a new theory or technique as a basis for research, he or she discusses the

value and/or limitations of this new approach.

· If the author's treatment of the subject is controversial, he or she knows and acknowledges this.

Accuracy or verifiability of details is an important part of the evaluation process, especially when you

are reading the work of an unfamiliar author presented by an unfamiliar organization, or presented in a

non-traditional way. Criteria for evaluating accuracy include:

· For a research document, the data that was gathered and an explanation of the research method(s)

used to gather and interpret it are included.

· The methodology outlined in the document is appropriate to the topic and allows the study to be

duplicated for purposes of verification.

· The document relies on other sources that are listed in a bibliography or includes links to the

documents themselves.

· The document names individuals and/or sources that provided non- published data used in the

preparation of the study.

· The background information that was used can be verified for accuracy.

Currency refers to the timeliness of information. In printed documents, the date of publication is the first

indicator of currency. For some types of information, currency is not an issue: authorship or place in the

historical record is more important (e.g., T. S. Eliot's essays on tradition in literature). For many other

types of data, however, currency is extremely important, as is the regularity with which the data is

updated. Apply the following criteria to ascertain currency:

The document includes the date(s) at which the information was gathered.

The document refers to clearly dated information.

Where there is a need to add data or update it on a constant basis, the document includes

information on the regularity of updates.

The document includes a publication date or a 'last updated' date.

The document includes a date of copyright.

If no date is given in an electronic document, you can view the directory in which it resides and

read the date of latest modification.

If you found information using one of the search engines available on the Internet, such as AltaVista

or InfoSeek, a directory of the Internet such as Yahoo, or any of the services that rate World Wide Web

pages, you need to know:

How the search engine decides the order in which it returns information requested. Some Internet

search engines 'sell' top space to advertisers who pay them to do so.

That Internet search engines aren't like the databases found in libraries. Library databases include

subject headings, abstracts, and other evaluative information created by information professionals

to make searching more accurate. In addition, library databases index more permanent and

reliable information.

How that search engine looks for information, and how often their information is updated.

All information, whether in print or by byte, needs to be evaluated for authority, appropriateness, and

other personal criteria for value. If you find information that is 'too good to be true', it probably is. Never

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

use information that you cannot verify. Establishing and learning criteria to filter information you find on

the Internet is a good beginning for becoming a critical consumer of information in all forms. 'Cast a cold

eye' on everything you read. Question it. Look for other sources that can authenticate or corroborate what

you find. Learn to be skeptical and then learn to trust your instincts.

Search Engines

Publishers of websites think: "Search engines are the roads people travel along when using the Internet to

get places. If you're not putting out signs to capture their attention, they'll never find their way to you!

However, you can use Google, Yahoo and Microsoft more frequently.

For Directories, prefer DMOZ, Yahoo directory and about

For News sites, prefer BBC, CNN, Yahoo news, Google news and Microsoft's MS NBC

Alerts on mobiles, go for

BBC, CNN, Yahoo and Google

Archives, prefer,

CNN, BBC and newspapers many have since publication or later uploaded

For Facts, use

Wikipedia and World fact book

Evaluating web pages: Techniques to apply & questions to ask

Evaluating web pages skilfully requires you to do two things at once:

Train your eye and your fingers to employ a series of techniques that help you quickly find what you

need to know about web pages;

Train your mind to think critically, even suspiciously, by asking a series of questions that will help you

decide how much a web page is to be trusted.

Begin by looking at your search results from a search engine or other source, following through by

investigating the content of page, and extending it beyond the page to what others may say about the page

or its author(s).

1. What can the URL tell you?

1. Before you leave the list of search results before you click and get interested in anything written on

the page glean all you can from the URLs of each page.

2. Then choose pages most likely to be reliable and authentic.

Is it somebody's personal page?

Read the personal pages carefully:

Look for a personal name following a tilde (~), a percent sign (%), or the words 'users,' 'members,' or

'people.'

Is the server a commercial ISP or other provider mostly of web page hosting (like aol.com or

geocities.com

What are the implications?

Personal pages are not necessarily 'bad,' but you need to investigate the author very carefully.

For personal pages, there is no publisher or domain owner vouching for the information in the page.

What type of domain does it come from?

(Educational, non-profit, commercial, government, etc.)

Is the domain appropriate for the content?

Government sites: look for .gov, .mil, .us, or other country code

Educational sites: look for .edu

Non-profit organizations: look for .org

If from a foreign country, look at the country code and read the page to be sure, who published it.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

What are the implications?

Look for appropriateness! What kind of information source do you think is most reliable for your topic?

Is it published by an entity that makes sense?

Who 'published' the page?

In general, the publisher is the agency or person operating the 'server' computer from which the

document is issued.

The server is usually named in first portion of the URL (between http:// and the first /)

Have you heard of this entity before?

Does it correspond the name of the site? Should it?

What are the implications?

You can rely more on information that is published by the source:

Look for New York Times news from www.nytimes.com

Look for health information from any of the agencies of the National Institute of Health on sites

with nih somewhere in the domain name.

2. Scan the perimeter of the page, looking for answers to these questions:

Techniques for Web Evaluation:

1. Look for links that say, 'About us,' 'Philosophy,' 'Background,' 'Biography,' 'Who am I,' etc.

2. If you cannot find any links like these, you can often find this kind of information if you truncate back

the URL.

INSTRUCTIONS for Truncating back a URL: In the top Location Box, delete the end characters of the

URL stopping just before each / (leave the slash). Press enter to see if you can see more about the author

or the origins/nature of the site providing the page.

Continue this process, one slash (/) at a time, until you reach the first single / which is preceded by the

domain name portion. This is the page's server or 'publisher.'

3. Look for the date 'last updated' - usually at the bottom of a web page.

Check the date on all the pages on the site.

Who wrote the page?

· Look for the name of the author, or the name of the organisation, institution, agency, or whatever

who is responsible for the page

· An e-mail contact is not enough

· If there is no personal author, look for an agency or organization that claims responsibility for the

page.

· If you cannot find this, locate the publisher by truncating back the URL (see technique above). Does

this publisher claim responsibility for the content? Does it explain why the page exists in any way?

What are the implications?

Some person or agency or entity creates all web pages with a purpose in mind. They do not simply 'grow'

on the web like mildew grows in moist corners.

You are looking for someone who claims accountability and responsibility for the content.

An e-mail address with no additional information about the author is not sufficient for assessing the

author's credentials.

If this is all you have, try emailing the author and asking politely for more information about him/her.

Is the page dated? Is it current enough?

Is it 'stale' or 'dusty' information on a time-sensitive or evolving topic?

CAUTION: Undated factual or statistical information is no better than anonymous information. Don't use

it.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

What are the implications?

How recent the date needs to be depends on your needs.

For some topics you want current information.

For others, you want information put on the web near the time it became known.

In some cases, the importance of the date is to tell you whether the page author is still maintaining an

interest in the page, or has abandoned it.

What are the author's credentials on this subject?

Does the purported background or education look like someone who is qualified to write on this

topic?

Might the page be by a hobbyist, self-proclaimed expert, or enthusiast?

Is the page merely an opinion? Is there any reason you should believe its content more than any other

page?

Is the page a rant, an extreme view, possibly distorted or exaggerated?

If you cannot find strong, relevant credentials, look very closely at documentation of sources (next

section).

What are the implications?

Anyone can put anything on the web for pennies in just a few minutes. Your task is to distinguish

between the reliable and questionable.

Many web pages are opinion pieces offered in a vast public forum.

You should hold the author to the same degree of credentials, authority, and documentation that you

would expect from something published in a reputable print resource (book, journal article, good

newspaper).

3. Look for indicators of quality information

1. Look for a link called 'links,' 'additional sites,' 'related links,' etc.

2. In the text, if you see little footnote numbers or links that might refer to documentation, take the time to

explore them.

What kinds of publications or sites are they? Reputable? Scholarly?

Are they real? On the web (where no publisher is editing most pages), it is possible to create totally fake

references.

3. Look at the publisher of the page (first part of the URL).

Expect a journal article, newspaper article, and some other publications that are recent to come from the

original publisher IF the publication is available on the web.

Look at the bottom of such articles for copyright information or permissions to reproduce.

Are sources documented with footnotes or links?

· Where did the author get the information?

· As in published scholarly/academic journals and books, you should expect documentation.

· If there are links to other pages as sources, are they to reliable sources?

· Do the links work?

What are the implications?

In scholarly/research work, the credibility of most writings is proven through footnote documentation or

other means of revealing the sources of information. Saying what you believe without documentation is

not much better than just expressing an opinion or a point of view. What credibility does your research

need?

An exception can be journalism from highly reputable newspapers. But these are not scholarly. Check

with your instructor before using this type of material.

Links that don't work or are to other weak or fringe pages do not help strengthen the credibility of your

research.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

If reproduced information (from another source), is it complete, not altered, not fake or forged?

Is it retyped? If so, it could easily be altered.

Is it reproduced from another publication?

Are permissions to reproduce and copyright information provided?

Is there a reason there are not links to the original source if it is online (instead of reproducing it)?

What are the implications?

You may have to find the original to be sure a copy of something is not altered and is complete.

Look at the URL: is it from the original source?

If you find a legitimate article from a reputable journal or other publication, it should be accompanied by

the copyright statement and/or permission to reprint. If it is not, be suspicious.

Try to find the source. If the URL of the document is not to the original source, it is likely that it is

illegally reproduced, and the text could be altered, even with the copyright information present.

Are there links to other resources on the topic?

Are the links well chosen, well organized, and/or evaluated/annotated?

Do the links work?

Do the links represent other viewpoints?

Do the links (or absence of other viewpoints) indicate a bias?

What are the implications?

Many well-developed pages offer links to other pages on the same topic that they consider worthwhile.

They are inviting you compare their information with other pages.

Links that offer opposing viewpoints as well as their own are more likely to be balanced and unbiased

than pages that offer only one view. Anything not said that could be said? And perhaps would be said if

all points of view were represented?

Always look for bias.

Especially when you agree with something, check for bias.

4. What do others say?

1. Find out what other web pages link to this page.

a. Use alexa.com URL information:

Simply paste the URL into alexa.com's search box.

You will see, depending on the volume of traffic to the page:

Traffic rank

Subjective reviews

'Site statistics' including some page history, sites that link to the page

Contact/ownership info for the domain name

A link to the Internet archive of website history 'Wayback Machine'

b. Do a link: search in Google, Yahoo!, or another search engine where this can be done.

INSTRUCTIONS for doing a link: search in Google or Yahoo!

1. Copy the URL of the page you are investigating (Ctrl+C in Windows).

2. Go to the search engine site, and type link: in the search box.

3. Paste the URL of the investigated site into the search box immediately following link: (no space after

the colon).

The pages listed all contain one or more links to the page you are looking for.

If you find no links, try a shorter portion of the URL, stopping after each /.

2. Look the page up in a reputable directory that evaluates its contents (Librarians' Index, Infomine,

About.com, Academic Info, or a specialised directory you trust).

INSTRUCTIONS: Go to the directory and search for the title of the site you are investigating. Look for

the publisher if you can't find a specific page from a larger site.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

3. Look up the author's name in Google or Yahoo!

INSTRUCTIONS in Google: Search the name three ways:

a. without quotes - Jabberwocky Web author

b. enclosed in quotes as a phrase - 'Jabberwocky Web author'

c. enclosed in quotes with * between the first and last name - 'Jabberwocky * Web author' (The * can

stand for any middle initial or name in Google only).

Who links to the page?

Are there many links?

What kinds of sites link to it?

What do they say?

Are any of them directories? Try looking at what directories say.

What are the implications?

Sometimes a page is linked to only by other parts of its own site (not much of a recommendation).

Sometimes a page is linked to by its fan club, and by detractors. Read both points of view.

If a page or its site is in a bona fide directory, think about whether there is much critical evaluation of the

links in the directory.

Is the page listed in one or more reputable directories or pages?

What are the implications?

Good directories include a tiny fraction of the web, and inclusion in a directory is therefore noteworthy.

But read what the directory says! It may not be 100% positive.

What do others say about the author or responsible authoring body?

What are the implications?

'Googling someone' (new term for this) can be revealing. Be sure to consider the source. If the viewpoint

is radical or controversial, expect to find detractors. Think critically about all points of view.

5. Does it all add up?

1. Step back and think about all you have learned about the page. Listen to your gut reaction. Think about

why the page was created, the intentions of its author(s).

If you have doubts, ask your instructor or come to one of the library reference desks and ask for advice.

2. Be sensitive to the possibility that you are the victim of irony, spoof, fraud, or other falsehood.

3. Ask yourself if the web is truly the best place to find resources for the research you are doing.

Why was the page put on the web?

Inform, give facts, and give data?

Explain, persuade?

Sell, entice?

Share?

Disclose?

What are the implications?

These are some of the reasons to think of. The web is a public place, open to all. You need to be aware of

the entire range of human possibilities of intentions behind web pages.

Might it be ironic? Satire or parody?

Think about the 'tone' of the page.

Humorous? Parody? Exaggerated? Overblown arguments?

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Outrageous photographs or juxtaposition of unlikely images?

Arguing a viewpoint with examples that suggest that what is argued is ultimately not possible.

What are the implications?

It is easy to be fooled, and this can make you look foolish in turn.

Is this as good as resources I could find if I used the library, or some of the web-based indexes

available through the library, or other print resources?

Are you being completely fair? Too harsh? Totally objective? Requiring the same degree of 'proof'

you would from a print publication?

Is the site good for some things and not for others?

Are your hopes biasing your interpretation?

What are the implications?

What is your requirement (or your instructor's requirement) for the quality of reliability of your

information?

In general, published information is considered more reliable than what is on the web. But many, many

reputable agencies and publishers make great stuff available by 'publishing' it on the web. This applies to

most governments, most institutions and societies, many publishing houses and news sources.

But take the time to check it out.

Conclusion 

Look before you leap, and for the Internet, look before you use it.

In this lecture, a senior journalist Zahid Chaudhry answered the following questions:

How careful you are?

What you usually do?

How far is the Internet helpful?

How the Urdu journalists using the Internet?

How is different from the English journalists?

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 04

WHAT MAKES A GOOD FEATURE?

A feature bears close similarities with the news-story, as it gives the readers facts in an interesting form,

and is framed and adapted to rapid reading. As compared to a news-story, a feature is expanded beyond

the basic fact rather is fully supplemented with greater information. A feature usually covers all the

underlying causes as well as the background of the news-story.

From the study of the nature and definition of a feature, we may deduce the prominent and major analytic

features and characteristics, which make a good feature.

Compose collected material and data efficiently

Another basic characteristic and attribute of a good feature is to compose collected material and data

efficiently. The underlying point is the skill and ability to write clearly, accurately and with imaginative

appeal. It should adopt a style of writing commensurate with the public genius and popular consciousness

to make it a delectable and entertaining piece of prose. It should be simple, idiomatic and commonly

intelligible to absorb the attention of the readers generally.

Facts and figures

A feature must know the importance of correct facts and figures. It must be realised that there is

nothing, which could be substantiated sans facts and figures. And there must be nothing divorced

from reality.

The features should be based on facts and figures, whose accuracy should not be questioned. Their

accuracy should be consolidated and unquestionable.

Besides this, features should be characterised with thoroughness, complete in all respects as to be readily

understandable and not lacking in any phase. Features are understood to be composed and designed to

convey a sense of completeness in its contents and the intended message.

The subjects of the features are usually derived from the news-stories originating in the society. The facts

should be sifted through wide reading, research and thorough investigation, with close touch to human

interest. Only those feature writers will hold interest of their readers, whose features are based on facts,

complete in all respects, thoroughness and clarity as well as accuracy.

A feature must research more facts, because he has enough time at his disposal. Features may be planned

in advance in such a way that they are published at the time of some important events, for example,

inauguration of some project or exhibition, Republic Day or Independence Day, anniversary etc. When a

feature is published in this way to coincide with some events, its value and importance increases greatly.

Meeting demands of readers

A good and experience feature writer always keeps before him the demands of the readers, which

warrants him a careful thinker and a sincere person, who give full weight to the basic elements of truth

and accuracy. It implies that he should be well-read man, willing to consult the standard publications and

books and work methodically by keeping the data and material in proper manner. He should be ready to

work hard willing in a business-like manner and not subject to a mood, or inspiration. They are generally

equipped with the proper initiative. He should be mentally alert and prepared to find out the ideas and

material, with a keen sense for his subjects and inspiring materials.

Instruct and Entertain

It must tell the reader how to go about certain things mentioned in the subject of feature!

Without the inspiration, enthusiasm and confidence into the readers, the objectives of feature articles will

be nullified. The features are meant to arouse noble feelings among the readers to think loftily about their

social, cultural, economic and political establishments and allied problems and ailments.

Features should be aimed at creating zeal to think about their national problems, and to take practical part

in the campaigns to solve them, and in mobilising the other forces. In short, features not only mobilise the

public opinion, but also motivate them to think sympathetically and patriotically about their local,

provincial and national problems.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Sometimes the feature writers take up light articles in order to match the generally depressing contents of

the newspapers. As understood, news-stories are commonly impersonal, unattractive, bare facts, which do

not absorb the attention of the readers generally. In view of this context, some feature writers adopt the

light articles, which are eagerly sought. Therefore, these lightly written articles provide amusement and

entertainment. Some of these feature writers become very popular with their readers who eagerly wait for

their articles, which may come once or twice a week. These feature writers can even amuse and entertain

their readers by writing about very commonplace subjects like domestic problems, problems of the

newly-weds, husband and wife problems, personal crisis of mankind etc. There is no doubt that the least

attended subject as a feature is always a good piece of journalism.

To achieve this, some feature writers take up another type of feature called the 'Personality Column', who

filter the news through the mesh of their own personalities to give it an individual touch. Sometimes,

these feature writers also give an idiosyncratic slant to their features.

These features are written regarding politics or some at other subjects. Generally, these features are

written in a very light vein. Some of these features are social or political satires and have sarcasm.

Keen observation

A realisation that from nearly every news event usually at least one feature story can be written

Another cardinal characteristic of a good feature is the keen sense of observation to detect those

interesting points, which usually escape the eyes of a common man. The writer should be a man to

possess the ability and to have a keen nose to sense the matters of interest around his environment,

particularly the social set-up in which he resides permanently. Without, the keenness and curiosity, his

feature shall not be able to find out the matters of common interest, and nor shall it be able to share that

interest.

Written off-the-cuff

Sometimes, features may have to be written without much notice. For example, if some event of great

importance takes place either in a foreign country or in one's own country, then a feature may have to be

written quickly. Recently, an intense earthquake struck and caused colossal loss of life and property in the

AJK and adjoining areas, a number of feature articles appeared in several newspapers. The subject was

dealt with in details, pointing out how the earthquake takes place, the destruction caused by an earthquake

and the research for methods of predicting earthquakes etc.

Human interest

Another characteristic of features is human interest or human value. This is a very popular source of

writing articles. Such features can be written on ever-green subjects like health family, the equality

between men and women, industry, economics etc. Now-a-days, many newspapers and magazines are full

of features on freedom of the sex and other sexual practices. Features regarding the private lives of past

and present important personalities, film stars etc., also quite popular. Many features have been written on

the subject of divorce and its consequences.

Divergent subjects

The writing of a controversial feature itself starts a very heated debate either through subsequent articles

or through letters to the editor, criticising or appreciating the feature.

Features are also written on certain social, cultural and economic problems which have aroused

considerable public interest, for example the juvenile delinquency, deteriorating law and order situation,

increased in eve incidents, daylight robberies, gold chain snatching and ladies purse snatching etc.

Sometimes, through these features a sort of running debate goes on in the press supporting or opposing a

particular subject.

Constructive approach

Features include the elements of constructive and reformatory approach, criticism, commentary, hard

facts and events, statistical data, opinions and suggestions etc., which become naturally the centre of

readers' attention. Feature even points out the corrupt elements in the various departments as well as the

black sheep, and subject them to some extent of accountability.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Meeting demands of the readers

In the present age, the newspapers and the periodical cannot ignore the likes and dislikes, requirements,

demands of the public psychology. Long articles with drab heaps of information, facts and figures are not

consistent with the popular temperaments. That is the key of the success of the features as well as the

papers. People like simple narrative and direct address to them. Viewed from the above context, feature

appears the only branch of journalism, which provides entertainment, instruction and education, interest

to the people.

Attractive headlines

Features are based usually on the news-stories, whereas the news originates from the happenings in the

society. Another demand of the feature is its attractive headlines, which add to the beauty of the feature as

well as attract the attention of the readers. The main element in the headline is its dramatic style, fashion

and mood and suspense therein.

Suitability of style, form and content

Nothing must be beyond acceptable norms though style should be there, and nothing deliberately done in

order to impress readers. Form must be accompanied by the well-constructed and maintained content,

which must be to the point and concerning the issue being discussed.

Using divergent tools

A news-story and a feature also differ as towards its contents, structure and form. A news-story is a

somewhat a business-like matter to be disposed of in a business-like manner in a traditional and

conventional form and structure. Whereas, a feature is written off-the-track manner, in an unconventional

manner, keeping in view the psyche of the people and in commonly understood language and idiom.

The news-story is written in a cold and logical manner, whereas a feature is designed to appeal to the

emotions and passions of the people. In a feature, commonly-understood and simple language is used, and

all the relevantly useful elements of dramatic are utilized to the full extent.

Guidance

Tell the reader how to react to certain situations, and how he must be thinking while considering a

particular aspect of life or society. The feature must be considering it an obligation that it should guide the

reader by telling him what is the issue besides sympathising with the reader's situation if appropriate.

Summarise any actions required of your readers, and any follow up action items required of you for them.

The objectives of a news-story are basically to communicate inform but the basic and bare facts; whereas

a feature aims at instruction, information, knowledge besides missionary objectives for the improvement

of morals and betterment of the lot of the people.

A feature may include in its study of the subject; all the information, background of the matter, or the

causes ascribed to a particular event. A news-story usually has to be subjected to the strict demands of the

dead line, in other words, a reporter has limited time to dispose of the news-story, whereas a feature

writer has ample time at his disposal and has not to necessarily meet a deadline.

Criticism and comments

Criticism and comments bring to focus what you want to highlight, which is done by bringing in

knowledge to give satisfaction through knowledge. Interestingly, it never means the feature is divorced

from reality, as it is based on facts and actual events.

A feature usually aims at imparting and delivering the desired effect, instruction, guidance as well as

entertainment to all the readers, including those who are already well-aware of the facts and figures of the

subject and those who happen to examine and peruse the subject for the first time.

Common and personal problems

Something related to `me' interests me more is the principle for bringing the society under focus besides

highlighting national and international scenarios.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Pictorial importance

A feature must never ignore the importance of charts and maps, as a full page sans any pictures looks dull

and drab. Pictures and related material arouse readers' interest instead of full page without pictures, which

bores the readers. For this purpose, bullets and blocks can be used.

Literary style

A feature must be written in good language and must carry the value of a literary style coupled with

creative writing; otherwise the feature can become trite or boring.

Novelty

This comes through difference in content and pictures with the supporting information and examples. It

must be kept in mind how these relate to your readers.

Simplicity

Simplicity in presenting facts should be along with the understandable language to the reader.

Emphasis on layout

Features generally engross the attention of the readers from the very beginning to the end. Moreover

special emphasis is laid on its best possible layout, make-up, pictures, and highlights, and are allotted

special and prominent place in the papers.

A nicely written feature always deserves a prominent place in a newspaper. Of course, a good feature

should have an interesting beginning, a captivating middle and a worth remembering ending.

Logical results and conclusions

There is nothing, which could be considered as good journalism when it is not based on logic and reality.

A feature must have a strong conclusion with pragmatic thinking working behind that. The conclusions

round out the feature by linking up the conclusion with the beginning.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 05

DEMANDS OF A FEATURE

If on one hand, certain responsibilities and duties are to be fulfilled by the feature, then there are certain

demands of every feature, which must be met by him as a writer of features.

They are:

Explanation

The basic importance of the features is fullest explanation and explication of the difficult points, so as to

make it more and more intelligible to the general masses at large. Feature-writing is actually at par with

detailed reporting which includes all the requisite information and facts under study, suitable to be

presented to the general readers. Features are uniquely based upon some interesting news-stories, which

absorb the popular attention immediately or popular attention can be diverted. In the feature, the

background of the particular news-story is presented side by side the present situation. For detailed

information, all the relevant facts and figures are included in the feature. Feature not only includes the

detail information as well as the personal feelings and impressions, which collectively assist the readers

and the officials to arrive at some firm conclusions and to form public opinion.

Entertainment and Interest

It has been justifiably said that feature is actually a news-story but converted into detailed and attractive

and interesting form. Moreover feature writing also contains relevant photographs, turning it into a

colourful and pictorial writings, which naturally increase their interest and entertainment. A feature is a

news-story from facts point of view and is a drama or a narrative from the point of view of its particular

style of description. The newspapers and the periodicals usually owe their success to the interesting and

attractive narrative of ifs feature articles. A feature manifests the basic and bare facts of a news-story but

in an attractive and attention-absorbing manner. Otherwise the features would have been considered as

drab writings, particularly in this age of awful pre-occupations and lack of leisure and even more when

thousands of voices and messages and writings follow the man. It is the objective and demand of the

feature to provide materially all available and necessary information, facts and figures and equip and

prepare the readers with moral values to confront and face the competition of age and times. So, feature is

not a means of material and mental entertainment, but it renders moral and ethical services to the readers.

Information and guidance

The features are usually objective-oriented, as to the information and guidance. The objectivity is the

moot question of the feature-writing, which forms the basis of success of any newspapers, journal,

magazine or a periodical. In other words, features are not enough merely to provide entertainment and

interest but they also have an objective to serve.

Both sides of picture

A feature shall, be considered consummate and perfect only if it gives and explicates both sides of picture

of an issue, an event or a problem. Feature reflects the real life and is usually written on the current issues,

and gets data and material from living society. A good feature writer gets information, facts and figures

from the relevant persons and employs his sensitive thinking and observation This virtually makes a

feature most interesting, alluring and attention absorbing immediately.

Diagnosis of Problems

Another important demand of the feature is its diagnosis of problems prevalent in the society at a given

period. Features are destined to reflect the mood of the society, to detect the underlying problems which

have diseased rather marred the society. Features not only detect the problems, but also undertake to study

and examine the causes and factors, which have led to a deteriorating state. They are meant also to

suggest the possible remedies and feasible measures to be taken to check the onslaught. Features render

valuable social services, by examining the countless social and psychological problems and their

suggestive and possible solutions. The features impel the readers to ponder over the serious topics and

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

even habituate them to form a solid thinking, and to prepare them to face hard facts of life in a light vein

with unconscious means without putting any unnecessary stress and strain on them.

Favourite of readers

The readers are more interested in reading the feature rather than a column or an editorial. As a feature is

more interesting, easily readable and intelligible and effective than a cold and logically written editorial

and even a personalised column. Features are not only the favourite item for the readers, but even the

feature writers usually earn and enjoy better reputation. A feature is a perfect article as it includes all the

aspects of an issue, which the readers peruse with keep and deep interest and even increases the

circulation of a newspaper on any day.

Attractive prose pieces

The features are literally and figuratively compositions of superb beauty, with unique and excellent style

of writings, on which the whole sub-structure of a newspaper stands solidly. They are really the moving

spirit in the newspapers. Their beauty owed to excellent style of narrative and employing the bare facts

and figures in such a manner so as to be easily digestible. Their presence not only increases the

circulation of a paper manifold and even invests the papers with new meanings of importance and

influence.

In the present age, the newspapers and the periodical cannot ignore the likes and dislikes, requirements,

demands of the public psychology. Long articles with drab heaps of information, facts and figures are not

consistent with the popular temperaments.

People like simple narrative and direct address to them.

Feature appears the only branch of journalism, which provides entertainment, instruction and education,

interest to the people. Features generally engross the attention of the readers from the very beginning to

the end.

Characteristics of features

· They usually entertain more than they Inform, Instruct, or advise, although they may do all four.

· They may be of any length, ranging all the way from rather long magazine articles to the short

human-interest story.

· They are factual and require reporting, but they are related to news stories in few other ways.

· They may or may not be timely. If they are timely and related to a current news event, they are

likely to be more appealing to a newspaper's readers.

· They may or may not be timely. If they are timely and related to a current news event, they are

likely to be more appealing to a newspaper's readers.

· They may be written in any form and in any style. The only criteria are that the form and style be

appropriate to the content and to the purpose of the story.

· They permit the reporter to use all his knowledge and cleverness to write a story that is original in

idea and treatment.

· They are well organised, always written from a carefully constructed plan or out-line.

· They rarely have a news lead. Instead they more often have novelty leads.

· They usually strike the keynote in the opening sentences, which permit the reader to come into

quick contact with the crux of the story, and arouse interest.

· They usually are not cut in makeup. Thus, the reporter may use any devices of the fiction writer

that he wishes suspense, surprise, dialogue, description, narration, climax, and the likes.

· They depend upon the writer to apply his imagination to the facts.

· They are written with friendly simplicity.

· They apply all the principles of effective writing to achieve unity, coherence, and emphasis,

which are essential to all good writing.

· They use specific nouns, adjectives, and verbs to create vivid images, sounds, and feelings for the

reader.

· They usually can be improved by rewriting to eliminate the writing faults.

· They bring the reader as close as possible to the experience or idea related in the story.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

They use fresh, original figures of speech where appropriate.

They often incorporate, where appropriate, the suggestions of a number of well-known writers

whose ideas follow in part:

Make the article replete with episodes and anecdotes.

Put something in quotation marks very early in the article.

Use the second person and bear the subject in upon the reader as a matter of urgency to him.

Make ideas concrete by use of specific figures and illustrations that readers understand.

Use dialogue and local colour, characterisations, arid appeals to the senses. Let readers see, hear,

taste, or feel what happened.

Keep the paragraphs short.

Use long sentences and short sentences judiciously mixed.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 06

CONDUCTING AND WRITING OF INTERVIEWS

Interview is an important aspect for feature writing. Newspaper and magazine features interviews are

similar. The only important difference is that the typical newspaper feature interview may be somewhat

less thorough because the newspaper writer frequently faces an imminent deadline.

Definition

According to a loose or general definition, interview is `Asking questions to obtain information'.

Strict or technical definition: Asking questions to obtain opinions, ideas, or special information on a topic

of interest from a prominent person or a recognised authority.

Kinds of interviews

Following are the types of interviews:

Informative: This interview is to obtain facts from those responsible for something, or have witnessed an

event or participated in a news situation; playing up the important facts.

Opinion: This is to obtain comments and opinions, and the writer play-up comments

Personality-based: This is done for a celebrity or well-known person to obtain facts of personality, his

interests, life and activities. However, talking to the less known is a different case scenario.

Kinds of interviews (availability of the interviewee)

It depends upon the availability of the interviewee, which makes the following kinds of interviews:

In-person interviews

Interviews for newspapers or magazines can be conducted in person, by telephone, email, in a group or by

letter. Each category of interview has a unique purpose, as well as distinct advantages and disadvantages.

For example, the skilfully conducted personal interview--the cornerstone of the story--should yield good

quotations, accurate description and insight into the issues and individuals in the story.

The disadvantage of the personal interview is that it takes time--time to arrange, time to gain the

confidence of the subject, time to get the necessary information and time to disengage from the interview.

Telephonic interviews

If the personal interview is like a full meal, the telephone interview is a fast-food sandwich because it

serves a purpose, but in a minimal way.

The advantage of the telephone interview, usually used for a story's secondary figures or for re-interviews

of primary subjects, is its quickness, like fast food.

One disadvantage of using the telephone is that you cannot see the interviewee, which means you can't

describe him or her. The main disadvantage is that you cannot establish much rapport with the

interviewee because of the impersonality of the telephone. To mitigate this disadvantage, work on your

telephone manners and also provide verbal reinforcement for interviews, such as an occasional "Uh-huh"

or "I understand.".

Group session

The third category of interview is the group session, often with a subject whose spouse or friend is

present. A variation is an interview with a company employee in the presence of one or more corporate

public relations representatives.

The only advantage to the group interview is that it's better than no interview at all. Its disadvantages are

that everyone in the room may want to answer your question, or--in the case of a PR representative

overseeing the interview--the subject's answers may be tainted.

To get the most out of a group interview, code your notebook so that you can ascertain who said what, or

use a tape recorder. Also, make arrangements to contact the prime interviewee later by telephone for

additional comments.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Email/letter

Occasionally a writer is unable to reach a source in person or by telephone. In that case, a written list of

questions is an alternative to no interview at all. For example, if you repeatedly fail to reach a key

executive in a major corporation, try submitting written questions. The executive may respond by email

or letter, and may even telephone you, thus upgrading the quality of the interview.

The advantage to the written interview is that, like the group interview, it's better than nothing. Its

disadvantages are numerous: You can't establish rapport with the subject; your source has ample

opportunity to ignore or to be unresponsive to your questions; you have no opportunity for clarification or

elaboration; and what you cannot see you cannot describe.

Who to interview

All ideas for interviews begin with a question: Who will be interviewed?

That sounds like an easy question, but the answer often can be elusive. For example, assume you're a

newspaper feature writer and you want to write an odd-occupation story about a so far unselected

professor at the university because you have learnt that more than half of the university professors

supplement their income with outside activities. These activities range from consulting in their field to

operating businesses.

You call the university's media liaison office and ask for help. The media representative provides you

with three names: A broadcasting professor has a half-interest in a radio station; a business teacher does

consulting for companies; and an English professor writes paperback romance novels.

Then the media liaison recalls that an education professor has recently quit his tenured post to buy and has

started irrigating his land. With that, you've found your main who and, in the process, refocused your

story, which will now be about university teachers, who leave teaching.

Your interviewee list isn't complete, of course. You'll need to talk to that teacher's former department

chairperson and a few colleagues and students. For perspective, you'll need other examples of professors

from the colleges, who have junked their teaching careers. And you'll need to find at least one expert who

can explain why professors leave teaching.

(If you were freelancing this to a national general-interest magazine, you could still focus on the

professor, but you probably would need to draw your other examples from universities across the country

to give the story national scope.)

As you can see, the focus of your story should lead you to a key "who." But the right "who" also can

change the focus of the story. Finally, except for the most superficial newspaper features, your "who"

really should be a list rather than a single name.

Asking for the interview

The next step is to ask for the interview. Getting an interview is sometimes difficult because many people

are wary of the press. For example, first-time interviewees may picture themselves confronted with

questions such as, "Do you still beat your wife?"

The best way to ask for interview time is to explain quickly and clearly, who you are, why you want the

interview and how much time you will need. Ask for enough time to complete the interview, but allow

more time in your schedule in case the interview goes beyond the allotted period.

You may also have to explain to the interviewee how the story you want to write differs from

investigative reporting and what the interview will be like.

Remember that no one (except perhaps government employees responding to questions about their work)

owes you an interview. Everyone else who agrees to talk to you is performing a courtesy. To be sure,

giving you an interview is not an act of pure altruism. The interviewee can benefit from the experience in

numerous ways, including recognition and the excitement of a new experience.

Many newspaper and magazine writers agree that asking for the interview is worrisome.

If you are writing an in-depth profile and have the time, consider the advice of writer Gael Greene.

Greene says: "In a profile, the ideal way for me to interview is practically to live with the person for two

or three days, if possible. I have a list of questions and I have done as much research as I can, have talked

to all their friends and ex-lovers and mates and so on. It's productive just to move in and sit there until

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

they stop being aware of my presence and are just being themselves. Then at some point, at lunch or din-

ner, I might ask a few questions--the soft, easy questions, and let them say the things they want to say."

In short, use common sense. If you're interviewing an executive who can tell his secretary to hold his

calls, the office probably is a good place for the session. On the other hand, if you were interviewing a

factory worker, the workplace would be a poor location because it wouldn't be private or quiet. Instead,

meet the person at home, assuming you can have a private discussion there.

Keep following brief points in your mind always:

· Making an appointment in advance

· Arrange a time and place that are convenient, importantly for the interviewee and then the

interviewer

· Use ingenuity and perseverance to obtain an interview if you fail to make an appointment

· Do not use unethical or devious means to obtain an interview

· Make appointments sufficiently in advance as people might be very busy

· Keep in unforeseen circumstances might make you miss it

· Repeat time and place of appointment before hanging up the receiver--certain that there is no

misunderstanding

Researching the interviewee

When you're granted the interview, you'll need to research both the interviewee and the topic of the

interview.

Your library research should be supplemented with calls to people who know your interviewee and

understand the topic of your article. Prepare your interviewee for this by telling him what you're going to

do and--if the story is personal--by asking the interview for the names of two or three close friends.

Talk to your seniors and colleagues as well.

You should ask for a curriculum vitae, which is an academic resume`. If your subject works for a large

company, the company public relations office might provide you with a biography, but they are not

required to do so.

With these sources, you should be able to piece together lots of information before you even talk. You'll

discover information such as his full name, age, address, academic degrees and title, previous

employment record, and other information.

The point of all this is that if you enter an interview armed with detailed information about your

interviewee, you'll be able to spend the interview time more effectively and you'll also be likely to flatter

the subject with your thoroughness.

Conducting the interview

Effective interviewing--the practice of getting another person to talk freely--is largely an exercise in

human relations. To be successful at it, you must be part used-car salesman, part psychiatrist and part a

secret agency man. You'll use some of this human relations skill in asking for the interview and in

conducting research. But most of that effort should be directed toward the interview itself--particularly

the first few minutes of the session.

Professional writers say the secret to an effective interview is to make friends, and the sooner the better.

Research has shown that the first four minutes of an interview sets the tone for the rest of the meeting,

which means that you have about 240 seconds to establish a working relationship with the subject, or be

left with an interviewee who may be unconcerned about your needs, unwilling to help and perhaps even

hostile to your presence.

The interviewee will be sizing you up during those first four minutes, researchers say. For that reason,

you need to be aware of your appearance, body language, voice, and word choice.

Let's take appearance first; which experts say makes up about half of the first impressions. Dress

appropriately. If you were interviewing a bank president in his office, blue jeans would be inappropriate

attire. On the other hand, if you're interviewing a factory worker in a blue-collar tavern, a business suit

won't help your cause. And if you are interviewing a religious figure, you need to wear a dress

accordingly.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Watch body language.

Head nodding is friendly and reinforcing. A blank stare may be threatening. A slouch says you are lazy.

Erect posture says you're alert.

Voice and word choice count for the other half of the impression, experts say. If you're used to speaking

loudly, soften your voice in an intimate office setting--or expect the interviewee to try to get rid of you at

the earliest opportunity. If you mispronounce a word or use poor grammar, the interviewee has every

reason to suspect you're likely to misquote him or her in the article.

In short, the interviewee is deciding whether he or she likes what you look like and how you speak at the

same time that he or she is sizing up what you're saying and how you're saying it.

Six simple techniques will help people like you--assuming you haven't shot yourself in the foot with

inappropriate attire and elocution. First, be interested in your subject. Second, smile, while you talk and

listen. Third, use the interviewee's name correctly. Fourth, be a good listener. Fifth, talk in terms of the

other person's interests and with the other person's terminology. Finally, make the interviewee feel as

though he or she is the most important person in the world by paying close attention while you're with

him or her.

Brief points

· Be sure what your assignment is and what will you do

· Select aspects that will interest your reader

· Select a definite and limited topic which could be developed adequately in a limited time

· Learn about the person as much as possible, his accomplishments, opinions, likes, dislikes,

personality

· From persons around you, from articles, books, either written by him or others about him

· Learn about the subject

· Gather enough information to speak intelligently on the topic

· Prepare a questionnaire, must be thought-provoking and current

· Questions in chronological order

· Questions of local interest

· Avoid embarrassing or personal questions, but not difficult ones

· Questions to bring out desired information

Asking questions

Think about your questions before you ask them. Most newspaper and magazine writers -- even

professionals of long standing -- jot down their questions beforehand. Of course, you should be flexible

about those questions. If you have 99 good questions but `the subject says something stunning in the

middle of the third answer, be prepared to follow that lead and spontaneously create new questions

pursuing the new angle.

As you phrase the questions--whether in your mind or on paper--scrutinise how you ask each one

because questions come in a variety of styles, each with its own effect. Here are four useful types of

questions.

The open-ended question allows the respondent broad range in the answer. If the question is unfocused,

the answer is useless. Let's assume you're interviewing students at the University for a Newspaper

Feature. Here's an unfocused open-ended question you might--but shouldn't--ask.

Example: "What's your opinion of the university?"

Opinion of what? The interviewee will think. The bookstore? Dormitory conditions? Cafeteria food?

Academic quality? Here is a more focused and useful version of the open-ended question.

Example: "How do you think the university's advising system can be improved?"

The closed question asks for a more narrow reply.

Example: "Which academic departments at the university have you heard positive things about?"

Example: "Which professors teaching general education courses would you recommend to a freshman

entering the university?"

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

The probe question asks for amplification of an unresponsive or incomplete answer.

Example: "Why do you recommend Prof (name) basic course?"

The mirror question by repeating part of the interviewee's answer, forces the respondent to amplify his

or her answer and also gives you time to finish writing down the original answer. The mirror question

often is coupled with a probe question.

In general, the writer should use focused open-ended, closed and probe questions, followed by an

occasional mirror question, to slow down the interviewee and to clarify quotations.

The writer should specifically try to avoid three question types: yes-or-no, leading and loaded questions.

Hypothetical queries may sometimes be used. Here are examples.

The yes-or-no question, which allows the interviewee to answer in only one of two ways, is virtually

useless for the feature or magazine writer because it doesn't yield a detailed answer (unless it is followed

by a probe question).

Example: "Do you think Prof (name) is a good teacher?"

The leading question is considered unethical by many writers and editors because it strongly suggests the

"right" answer to an interviewee.

The loaded question, designed to antagonise an interviewee, is equally manipulative.

A final type of question that occasionally may be used is the hypothetical query, which allows the

interviewee to think about and comment on coming developments. You must be careful to pose

hypothetical questions only about situations that are, in fact, able to occur.

Succinctly, you should carefully structure your questions. And when you structure the questions, you

should build them along the lines of focused open-ended, closed, probe and mirror queries.

Most interviews require that the writer ask some "difficult" questions. Difficult questions are hard to

define. If you're writing a profile, the difficult question could be something like, "How much money do

you make?" or "Weren't you arrested in 1984?" Be sure to ask these questions at the end of the interview

so that if the session ends abruptly, you will still have enough material to write your story.

The next step in the interview process depends upon the difficult question having been asked. If you have

asked a touchy question, you should be prepared to help the subject recuperate from the trauma of being

frank--or angry--with you.

Your interviewees will not usually be criminals and you are not a police officer, but the act of suggesting

that something said will not sound as awful as the subject thinks it will is, in fact, effective human

relations.

It is said that a writer's personality will set the tone for the interview.

Journalistic techniques really grow out of the kind of person you are. Hostile people will be hostile

reporters and friendly people will be friendly reporters. An interview is a conversation with slightly more

questions than ordinary.... If you are friendly, that comes over. If you are hostile and paranoid, that comes

over.

For example, investigative reporters tend to be paranoid. An investigative reporter once said: "We

investigative reporters are all proctologists. You look up there and you expect to see something dirty and

you do." That's what makes them so great.

Six interviewing tips most writers follow:

1. Don't come into the interview with your mind made up about the interviewee.

2. Keep your ego out of the interview: Your subject is the subject--not you.

3. Don't argue.

4. Listen; don't keep talking.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

5. Don't interrupt if the answer is not going the way you want it, unless you don't have time and must

guide it quickly to a conclusion.

6. Assume nothing. [For instance: how a name is spelled.]

Never be ashamed of saying, "I don't understand, or "What does that mean?" or "Put it in layman's

language, please." Neophytes are often so scared of looking stupid that they don't pursue matters as far as

they should. But to ask is to learn, and to help your readers learn. To me, the only stupid question is the

unasked question.

However, it is also said there is nothing [during the interview] that can be done by the book--nothing--

except perhaps ask the really "hairy" question at the end.

People, whether they know it or not, can tell an awful lot from your body English, as one can tell from

theirs and from their facial expressions. All reporters have to do this. It's not technique so much as

instinct. All of this is based on gut feeling. There are ways of telling when a person's lying; the brief

hesitations, the people who are loath to make eye contact. All these are clues.

The intensity of the questioning will vary with the writer. For example, who has flexible deadlines, likes

to take more time with interviews. He initially spends perhaps an hour with an interviewee, then builds to

longer sessions. One tries to hang out a lot, with all types of subjects, sometimes not even taking notes.

One always works from the less significant to the more significant questions, until you know what you

want to ask. You may use the time to ask and re-ask questions, listening for nuances and speech patterns.

Brief points

· Be there in-time

· Again introduce yourself clearly, may give visiting card

· If the interviewee asks you for drinks, tell him by remaining within limits

· Be friendly and courteous

· Congratulate or condole if there is anything of the sort

· Writer--tell him that you liked his book

· Make him feel what he says is hugely important

· Try to impart an impression that you are interested in knowing what he has to say

· Breaking ice yourself might ensue problems

· Avoid interrupting the interviewee

· Enable him to do most of the talking

· Keep him going smoothly but not permitting to wander away

· Digressing from the topic, follow with interesting questions

· Observe facial impressions, mannerism and gestures

· Interested in answering, getting perturbed or happy

· Vice-versa--you are also being observed, no cracking fingers, mobile switched off or on silent--

ever picking unless emergency

· Take plenty of notes in abbreviated longhand, but not burying yourself

· Be sure you have exhausted all questions

· Ask if the interviewee wanted to say something else

· Exhaust all questions before finishing off

· Listen carefully

· Identify between important and unimportant details

· Understand if there were any ambiguities

· Spellings of all names

· Exhaust all questions before finishing off

· Thanks the person

· Observe requests if any

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Attribution guidelines

During practically every interview, you can expect the interviewee to say at least once, "Hey, don't put

that in the story" or, "I'll answer your question if you agree not to use the information in the story." When

that happens, you're being confronted with one of the most vexing problems facing the writer--what to

do about the "off-the-record" request.

When an off-the-record request is made (whether it's in regard to something said or as yet unsaid), you

have three choices: You can agree to keep the remark secret, you can absolutely deny the subject's

request, or you can bargain to use some or all of the information in your story. Off-the-record comments

and information withheld by the subject are of little use, so most writers refuse requests to keep

information secret and attempt to bargain.

To understand how you can change the subject's off-the-record request into a usable quotation, it is

helpful to know the etiquette under which most newspaper and magazine writers operate. First, any

comment made during an interview is on-the-record unless the comment is granted off-the-record status

by the writer. Professional etiquette requires you to keep your word only if you've actually given it. On

the other hand, you are required to keep your word if you agree not to print an interviewee's information

prior to being told that information.

Successful bargaining requires understanding how quotations can be restricted. Typically, quotation

agreements can be divided into five categories.

The first category is for-direct-quotation. Here, whatever the subject tells you can be used as a direct

quote, a partial quote or an indirect quote. Here's an example of a direct quotation.

Remarks made during most personal and telephone interviews, of course, are always on-the-record and

for-direct-quotation, unless the subject advises you otherwise prior to making the remark.

Proceeding along a continuum of progressively less acceptable restrictions, the next category is not-for-

direct-quotation. Here, you can identify the source and repeat the quote, but not within quotation marks.

The purpose of this technique is largely to allow the source to claim having been misquoted if he or she is

in hot water after the interview appears. Even though politicians enjoy using this approach, you should

avoid it because it casts a shadow on your credibility should the subject deny having made the statement?

Not-for-attribution comes next. The lack of attribution forces you to connect a quote to a generalized

source.

This kind of attribution--sometimes called background attribution--obviously has less credibility than a

direct quotation or even a not-for-direct-quotation statement.

Deep background often refers to information given to a writer on the basis that it not be attributed to the

source in any way. Usually the writer can get another source to corroborate the background information

and then can attribute that information to the new source. Deep background is frequently used in news

analysis articles.

The last, and worst, category is, of course, off-the-record, where you promise not to reveal either the

information or the source.

Much of this is a tempest in a teapot because often interviewees want to restrict information in which you

have little interest: They pledge you to secrecy and then tell you something that is irrelevant to the story.

Succinctly, the plan is to assume anything you're told in an interview is for-direct-quotation unless you

agree to an exception. If you agree to an exception, try to move the request along the continuum from off-

the-record to at least not-for-direct-quotation or at worst not-for-attribution. Agreeing to hear important

information on an off-the-record basis is a waste of your time.

In addition to off-the-record requests, some subjects demand to see their quotations or even the entire

story as a condition of the interview. Their requests are usually rejected.

Magazine writers and editors sometimes verify quotations by reading key selections to a source by

telephone. Most newspaper feature writers refuse all such requests. A lot of people ask to see the piece

and you always have to say, `No.'

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Gathering material

Note-taking Tips.

Researchers say that even if you're a careful listener, you will miss 50 percent of what a speaker--in this

case, an interviewee--has to say. And if you don't record that information quickly, you will lose 50

percent of what you did hear. For that reason, note taking is critical unless you routinely depend on tape

recorders.

First, use the correct tools. Writers have found that taking notes on standard paper slows down writing.

Use a reporter's notepad, which typically is about four inches wide by eight inches long.

Most newspaper and magazine writers don't know shorthand. However, most writers do use some form of

self-taught shorthand, which is another tool. At its simplest, that shorthand involves using numbers for

words ("4" instead of "four") and dropping articles (such as "the") and other non-essential words. Still,

note taking in this manner is an inexact art and depends on the writer's getting to a terminal or computer

as quickly as possible to reconstruct the language of the interviewee. So--assuming you're not using a

tape recorder and you don't know true shorthand--don't try to take down every word. Instead, rely on

good notes for direct and partial quotations and on your memory to reconstruct the gist of what the subject

said in indirect quotation.

An especially fast-talking interviewee may cause you to fall far behind in note taking, despite your

reporter's notepad, self-taught shorthand and excellent memory. If that happens, consider asking your

speeding subject to slow down.

Finally, be as inconspicuous as possible about your note taking. Keep your notes out of the line of sight of

the interviewee. In fact, avoid letting the subject even see when you've stopped writing. This gives you

the option of ignoring inane comments while taking copious notes of important ones.

Tape recorder techniques.

To tape or not to tape, that is the question!

Most newspaper reporters facing daily deadlines seldom use recorders. Replaying and transcribing

material takes too much time, they say.

On the other hand, magazine writers--especially freelance writers--use tape recorders frequently. So

does newspaper feature writers who don't face short deadlines?

While there is disagreement among journalists about the value of recorders, all agree that if you use a tape

recorder, you should use a good one.

The ideal machine, which should be small so that it won't distract the interviewee, ought to have a built-in

microphone with an automatic gain control. The built-in mike will lessen the obtrusiveness of the

machine; the gain control will automatically adjust the recording level for varying conditions. Recording

should be indicated by a tiny light so you can check whether the machine is working properly. All are

common features.

The machine also should have a tape counter and an audible forward cue so that you can locate specific

segments of the tape later. The counter reading can be noted during the interview so you can later find the

general location of important quotations, and the cue will allow you to play the tape back at faster than

normal speed to pinpoint those quotations quickly. These are common features, too.

An end-of-tape warning signal to let you know when you're out of tape, and an auto-reverse capability so

that the recorder will automatically record the second side of the tape, are important but less common

features. So is a voice-activated recording system, which means the machine will record only when

someone is talking, thus saying tape.

Even with all of this technology, it's a good idea to take notes as though the recorder did not exist. This

will protect you in case the recorder fails and will also provide a table of contents for the tape.

Secondly, a tape recorder frees you to really listen to the other person and gauge interaction with them.

You can look at them. They can look at you. They're not looking at the top of your head. That is

disconcerting. The tape recorder gives the interviewer a chance to really respond to what the interviewee

is saying, to think about it. Plus the fact that when you get back and have to listen to all of this again, it's

really very helpful because you hear things you didn't hear at first, and inflections, pauses.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Some reporters argue against using tape recorders. They can malfunction, tapes take time to transcribe,

and taping encourages laziness on the part of the reporter. All of these points are worth considering. But

tape recorders can be tested right before and during an interview.

Closing the session

If you've done a good job interviewing your subject, closing the session may be difficult because the

subject, who probably has enjoyed the experience immensely, will want to prolong the interview. You

must persuade him or her that the time has come to end the interview.

The best way to close the interview is to explain that the time you've asked for has long been up and you

have another appointment. You should also add that you may have other questions (and the chances are

good that, indeed, you will) and you would like to be able to telephone. The interviewee will usually be

willing to continue the relationship and will probably insist that you call if you have the slightest

question. With that, you should smile, thank the interviewee and leave.

Writing the interview

Feature and magazine articles usually require description. Description requires keen observation, the third

component of reporting. Sometimes keen observation requires participation.

There are numerous approaches to describing people, places and events. What works in describing people

is usually also effective for describing places and events.

Write immediately after, otherwise you may lose information after determine the kind of interview you

had conducted. Hence you must include only the pertinent content, by avoiding the obvious and the

stereotype information. One must use your originality and subject to determine the best order of

information.

Begin with an appropriated lead, which must interest your reader.

Bridge the gaps carefully by re-reading whatever you have written.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 07

WRITING NOVELTY INTROS

Why intros or Intros are important? This is the first question, which comes to every person's mind

whenever he is asked to write `good' intros. Though definition of `good' varies from person to person but

generally we can say that `what appeals to the readers and urges them to read the rest of the feature or

article' is a good intro. However, every writer has different tools to make their write-ups interesting.

While some apply the simple rule: "Lets talk your heart out to the reader!" or give a "Wake up call to the

reader!" However, it is a must to enhance the readability.

It is always challenging the ability of the writer to write interesting intros. The Intros add vigour and

colour to the writing in order to make features as interesting as possible, which is possible through

imagination coupled with paying intense attention to facts.

However, warning is: Deliberate efforts must be used sparingly, rather the thumb rule is whenever you do

it, make it natural, appropriate and unrestrained.

When to write novelty intros

Follow the mentioned below rules:

When you have some facts that are not entirely straight news

When you have some facts that may be made much more interesting by a novel way of presenting them

When the use of a novelty intro seems natural, appropriate, and unrestrained.

Let's talk your heart out to the reader!

When the purpose to arouse reader's interest for more information

Avoid juvenile styles

One of the surest signs of the novice writer is his straining to find writing devices with the single virtue

that they are different. Novelty intros should be used sparingly when the purpose of your intro is to arouse

the reader's interest, not to satisfy it.

Beware that despite its variation from the straight news Intro, a novelty Intro for a feature story should

still present the news feature, but in such a way as to pique a reader's interest for more information.

Imagination combined with attention to facts is the requirement for successful novelty Intro writing.

Types of novelty intros

Punch or astonisher intros

This consists usually of a short, snappy sentence set off in a paragraph by itself with the summary of other

facts in the second paragraph, and used when you have one fact that is extremely important or startling

Background intros

This consists of a sentence or sentences describing an event in which the background overshadows the

individuals who participate in it. It is used often for stories about carnivals, dances, gym exhibitions,

music festivals and Homecoming events.

Exclamatory intros

This consists of short exclamatory sentences frequently set off in a paragraph, and is used for extremely

striking information, often of a big news

Direct quotation intros

This consists of a speaker's direct words, and is used when what is said is more striking or important than

the person who made the statement.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Question intros

This consists of a question usually set off in a paragraph by itself, and is used only when the question is

the crux of a story.

Description intros

This consists of a description of either of a person, place, or event, and is used when a comparatively few

words can formulate a vivid image in the reader's mind.

Contrast intros

This should be sharp and vivid to be most effective, and is used to point up opposites and extremes.

Literary, historical or mythological allusion intro

This consists of mostly of a quotation or a reference to a literary, historical or mythological character, and

is used only when the reference is natural and appropriate.

Parody intro

This consists of a parody of well-known song, poem, quotation, book or motion picture title, and is used

when the parody is appropriate and easily recognised and not trite.

Atmosphere intros

This consists of words or phrases that help to portray the setting or mood for a reader, and is used only

when the setting or mood an event is interesting or significant.

Suspended interest intro

This usually consists of several sentences in which reader's interest is intensified as he continues to read,

and is used most frequently for news-feature or feature stories which must be printed in their entirety to

preserve their news interest.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 08

STRUCTURE OF FEATURES

Generally speaking, there might not any significance about the structure of a feature, and people will like

to divide it into three major portions, that is, the Intro, body and conclusion. However, with the passage of

time and considering the reservations and constraints of the readers, one must be giving due attention to

the division, and especially the transition from one portion to another, as a reader must be carried along

with it. Otherwise, he might lose interest in the middle, and would never read that article again.

A feature is seldom written in the traditional inverted pyramid pattern or it can be written in a narrative

fashion, much like a good joke or anecdote. A good feature requires as much organisation as the straight

news story, for the feature has to flow smoothly and parts of a feature story must be kept intact if it is to

succeed. In the well-planned story, every paragraph, every sentence, should add to the total effect.

However, the structure may vary from feature to feature. However, it goes like this when it is written with

the usual standards.

Intro or Lead

The lead must attract immediate attention and pull the reader into the story. Leads can vary in style and

content. You can use description, narration, dialogue, question, unusual statement, call to action,

comparison-contrast. (Discussed in detail in the last lectures).

Transition

No matter how good the lead is, you need a solid transition into the body of the feature. If you think of the

lead as a lure to attract the audience, then the transition sets the hook. It makes the reader want to

continue. And it promises some kind of satisfaction or reward. The reward can be entertainment,

information or self-awareness but has to be something of value to the reader.

Body

Sound knowledge of the subject, coupled with good writing skills, will let you take the reader through a

variety of experiences. You should use the standard writing devices of crisp dialogue, documental but

vivid fact and detail, careful observation, suspense and if appropriate, plot.

Body is the major area

Whenever, one is writing the body of a feature which can carry many short pieces following points

must be kept in mind.

Never fill it, important part

People can try to fill the part only may be thinking that the reader has been gripped into a certain situation

and he will stick to reading the feature. It is never the case as the newspaper reading is a willing one, and

if the reader feels that he is being bored or over-burdened, he might leave it even in the middle of the

feature. So every word and concept must be rightly written and rightly placed.

Should be well-connected, forceful and coordinated

All the paragraphs of the main body should be well-connected with each other. Jumping from one idea to

another should be well-thought and must be seen whether it is getting its connection to the previous or the

following paragraphs. Never take it for granted that the reader is going to form linkages in the thought

process.

Avoid unnecessary details

When we say a particular portion of a feature is the main body, it never means that every detail should be

put in order to fill that body. There must be only relevant details without any stuffing-the-sack idea. The

writer must consider that the main body is as important as the other portions of the feature. Concentrating

in the same manner like the way the Intro or the Lead is written, the reader will remain absorbed in the

story.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

But never omit important if it is required so

If unnecessary details are to be avoided, then it never means that the important should be missed or

omitted from the feature. Obviously the responsibility of keeping this intact and observing the rule lies

with the writer.

Building towards the climax

Main body should be used as a portion, which is building the feature towards the climax. Hence, it must

be planned in this manner that reader is expecting the climax after the main body.

Conclusion

The conclusion should give the reader a sense of satisfaction. You need to tie the conclusion to the lead so

that the story has unity. Often you can do this through a short, tight summary, occasionally, you can

conclude with an anecdote or a quote that sums up the substance of the story. With a narrative approach,

you build toward a climax.

Length

If a reporter asks how long a feature story should be, the editor may reply, 'as long as you keep it

interesting.' Feature stories vary in length from two or three paragraphs to 15 or 20 triple-spaced sheets of

copy. Readers' interest is the main yardstick by which they are judged. And editors are paid to accurately

assess readers' interest.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 09

SELECTION OF PICTURES, ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

Many have undoubtedly heard many a time the old cliché "one picture is worth 10,000 words." This

Chinese proverb helps to explain the popular appeal of news pictures. Never every reader-interest survey

reveals a dominating interest in `picture' material.

Jack Woodford, a successful pulp novelist and non-fiction author, gives over 50 per cent weight age to

write-ups and pictures.

Reasons for popularity of pictures:

They bring us closer to an event by enabling us to see with our own eyes what a writer has seen with his.

Secondly, they somehow seem more truthful than news stories although, of course, pictures can be faked

just as can news stories of poverty-stricken children in the foreign countries are hard for many of us to

believe, but seeing a picture of these under-nourished children in bread lines and soup kitchens make the

situation appear real.

Thirdly, they help us to feel that the persons about whom we read are real people. We see in our paper

names of presidents, English royalty and Hollywood stars, but they remain just names until we can

associate their names with their pictures.

Fourthly, they help to point up or increase the human interest of feature stories. Lastly, they help to

enhance the make-up of a paper by giving variety and vitality to it.

Pictures appeal vividly to our past experience as well as to certain basic drives or deep seated tendencies,

which most humans possess in various degrees of intensity.

The following list is not all-inclusive, but it should serve to classify the principal appeals made by the

general run of the newspaper pictures:

Struggle (including certain sports)

Fear

Sympathy

Children

Animals

Obscenity or Nudity (in limited cases)

Beauty

Play

Familiarity

10.

Humor

Writing is not the only thing, pictures and maps do the rest of the job

No doubt, the importance of a good write-up can never be undermined, but in the present-day journalism,

one can never consider pictures, illustrations and maps of lesser value. These actually contribute towards

the general understanding of the feature, and one must be considering readers' constraints of time while

writing long features sans illustrations.

A picture communicates better than a thousand words

When a picture is placed along with the article, if a reader does not read the feature, he can actually see a

picture and makes an impression. Sometimes, a picture stays in mind for very long instead of the words

related to that particular illustration.

People of all ages see pictures, if don't read

All cannot read but all can see except the blind ones. And those who see always remember

But pictures can motivate the `viewers' to read the feature

If a reader is not interested in reading any feature, a good picture can make him read the article, as his

interest can be incited through visuals.

It is an international language understood by even the illiterate

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

A good picture or illustration can be understood by any person, speaking any language or living in any

country. Succinctly, a feature can go unnoticed, but not a noticeable picture.

What have not been able to write, you can say it through pictures?

There are many occasions in the life of a journalist when he cannot write something owing to certain

pressures on him, but a photographer can solve his problem with the picture. Or the writer can come up

with an illustration to say something sans getting into troubled waters.

Selection of pictures

Careful and cautious

One must be very careful and cautious in the selection of the pictures, as these carry a really huge

importance in the over-all impression of the feature.

Related to the subject

Only those pictures and illustrations should be considered for publication, which are relevant to the

subject under discussion. Be certain that you have made the right choices from among the pictures and

illustrations you have collected for the publication.

Arousing interest

Pictures should be evoking the interest of the readers in the features and they must feel like reading the

text.

Bringing beauty to the pages

In present day world when the reader is fighting against running time, and he always feel that some thing

visual should satisfy his urge for knowledge, then pictures and illustrations help him. Moreover, these

also bring beauty to the pages.

Keeping in mind editorial policy of the newspaper

Selection of the pictures and illustrations must be made according to the Editorial policy of the

newspaper. Most of the newspapers do not allow the usage of obscene or nude pictures; hence it is

binding upon the writer and sub-editor or editor to select pictures and illustrations.

Supporting the subject and its theme

These must be supporting the subject or the angle of the story. Contradiction in the portrayal could

destroy the over-all impact of the feature.

Clear pictures

These should be clear as blurred pictures irritate the reader. However, if the picture is pretty old or taken

from a distant angle, but if it carries importance, then it can be printed. However, effort must be that all

illustrations and pictures should be clear.

Black and white pictures can be printed

In this age of colored newspapers, black and white pictures and illustrations can be used. However,

coloring of these pictures should be avoided. However, it is not binding as well.

Local pictures

Preference should be to use local pictures. Whenever, foreign pictures are used along with local features,

it looks odd. Under compulsion, it can be done.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Sources

Photographers

Employed photographers of the newspapers must be used and given an idea of the feature and ask them to

bring pictures. Most of the times, they come up with better pictures even beyond your expectations.

Library

Every newspaper has a library where old and new pictures, which must be used up to the maximum

extent.

Reference section

Sometimes the reference section of the newspaper also carries good illustrations, which need some hard

work.

Internet precautions

The Internet is most heavily used source these days, but it must be kept in mind that flagrant use can

cause problems. First, the frequency of the pictures must be checked. Secondly, sometimes the size of the

pictures can vary and when it comes to printing, it can be reduced to an unprintable size. Thirdly, it is

must be seen whether it carries the authorization of copying or not.

Books

Illustrations and pictures from books can also be used, but the copyrights must be observed.

Designers' expertise

In case, if the visuals are not available, the page designers can be briefed about the feature, and asked to

prepare an illustration.

Usage of pictures

Sizing of the pictures

The pictures and illustrations should be sized according to the design of the page, and this is done by the

designer, but suggestion can be given.

Blown up pictures

Again the choice lies with the designer of the page; however, pictures can be blown in size, if their pixels

stay in tact.

Small pictures

Small pictures are used, and especially with the interviews, that is, cut-out heads look appropriate.

Collage favorite of a few

An amalgamation of picture arranged in a specific manner, called Collage, is a favourite of quite a few,

but these must be used sporadically.

Usage of maps

Maps can be for good purpose, especially when the feature is about areas and distances.

Usage of illustrations

Illustrations give an overview of the content of the feature, and designers can be helpful in this regard.

Usage of Alaamti pictures

Sketches and cartoons can be used to good effect, and if used sporadically, impart good impression.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Cropping of pictures

Using pictures from your own perspective

Pictures must be used according to the content, and what could be visualized through that particular

visual.

Avoiding useless spaces

While cropping pictures, or cutouts, extra spaces should be filled with text.

Objective-orientated

The cropping pictures should be used with an objective, and sporadically instead of frequent use, which

can become trite or boring.

Layout of pictures

Designers' prerogative, but you can say

Designers have to right to assert, but the concerned editor has

the right to suggest-cum-advise the reader.

Placement and highlighting it from one's perspective

Pictures can be placed and highlighted from the writers'

perspective. However, if he is consulted, then things can be better.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 10

FEATURES AND EDITORIAL POLICY

In Pakistan, every year if not thousands, then hundred of newspapers and magazines are published. In

1988, when the new ordinance for the procurement of the declaration was made easy, it also increased the

number of venturists many fold. However, there few which were published for a year or so or they got

popularity among the readers.

In the same manner, many youngsters came to journalism but quit after some time, while only few

remained in the field and were successful too. This is primarily due to the reason that those writers or

journalists did not abide by the editorial policies of the newspapers; hence they are never needed by the

newspapers. They deemed that they are not involved in `self-expression' and the policy of the newspaper

nor anything else must hinder their way. They forgot that the writings of the newspaper are not literary

(that is, to act as `literature' or as a `book') rather these are journalistic, and are written for the readers.

The editors believe that quite a large number of writings are printed as those are not in accordance with

the character and policy of the newspaper, and they think that the writers should be trained into clarity

and maturity of mind. Most of the articles and features are not published just for the mere consideration

that the writers want them to be printed.

Slanting or angling feature

Giving turn or twist to the subject as per the editorial policy anti-government or social is an almost

certainty that the feature could get published. In journalistic terms, it is called as `slanting' a feature.

One can learning it from newspaper reading, that is, the subjects what kind of subjects are being picked

up by the writers and their treatment how the writers are treating them, that is, from what perspective

they write about the subject.

Many a time, it also happens that one newspaper has rejected a particular feature, while the other has

published it. It is primarily because of the difference of the editorial policy of various newspapers.

However, every feature can be printed in every newspaper, except a few exceptions, and which is possible

either by deleting or adding some material, which is either required or not needed.

Secondly, length or subject of the feature can be a problem. Different newspapers need different lengths

of features besides being comfortable about a particular subject.

Look at one of the ordinary levels, that is, selection of pictures and vocabulary, and writing captions,

fresh writers do not consider all these as important as these are. Resultantly, their features are rejected.

When a writer selects a suitable subject, then he must write according to the editorial policy of the

newspaper, he is targeting. He must consider the making of the feature, general impression, details to be

included or excluded, length, crux, pictures, language, and facts, which must be all there according to the

editorial policy.

New writers keep on writing in their own flows, and then the put the onus of their failures on novelty and

modernism. They never realize that creation the last two, take a lot of effort. They must realise that what

is being published, from what angle and what the editor demands.

However, the question arises: Why writers fail in slanting the features according to the editorial policy of

the target newspaper? Firstly, it is primarily because of the `Ignorance about editorial policy'. If one

editor has rejected his feature, it could be published by another. It does not mean problem with the

subject, rather it is the editorial policy.

The writer must know about the target newspaper. To know this, one must be involving himself in the

Constant reading of the paper, and see the treatment of various themes, and the kind of subjects being

picked up.

Secondly, he must be which ideologies are being favoured or rejected or whether it is being done though

the direct approach or in an indirect manner.

On the other hand, a few of the feature writers want that the editorial policy must be according to the

wishes without realizing that it is never changed for one writer.

Good writers are always required by a newspaper, but most of the write-ups are of ordinary nature. On the

other hand, some newspapers develop writers, but not all of them.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

On the other hand, quite a few features are rejected owing to the reason that they are trite, and nothing

new is discussed.

Knowing what the editor wants!

It is a must to know what the editor intends to print, and if the feature is according to the editor's

requirements, then it is printed for sure whereas the editor outlines its requirements according to the

wishes of his readers. For instance, if the editor wants that a certain feature must be written at a particular

time, and his readers will take interest in that, the editor will get it written.

In order to do this, the writer must listen to what the editor wants him to write and in turn, act on the

directions in true spirit. Good editor makes writer understand what his readers wants to read, and meeting

the editor is a must as he tells the writer what he cannot understand from mere newspaper reading.

However, the editor can bring changes in the editorial policy, when he sees change in the demands of the

readers, but it is never an easy thing to do, and never done impulsively. Secondly, the editor gives the

writer latest update about the change in the editorial policy of the newspapers.

Know what you can do best!

It is a must for the writer to know on what he can write best. If he can write on social issues better, he

must not attempt at political subjects, as it can be against his nature. It does nothing, but helps in the

writer's failure.

On the other, a few of the writers, when they have not developed their own style, try to copy masters of

that particular area. `Never try to copy the style of others', as you are born with your own and you can use

it to the best possible extent and become a success story. Remember! It is a small world, and rarely

copying goes amiss. Hence, it is better to follow your instincts.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 11

HUMAN INTEREST AND FEATURE WRITING

Human interest is hard to define. Most editors say stories about children, animals or human emotions

have automatic human-interest value. Consequently, a story about a little girl and her father combing the

city for their missing sibling has guaranteed reader appeal. So does a medical feature about a young

woman struggling to cope with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or one about a doctor at the

research hospital trying to find a cure for baldness?

Consequently, if you want to write a profile about a man who traps or frees birds for a living, you

probably have a sufficiently unusual story for broad reader appeal.

The talking bird story also has unusualness--assuming the little fellow really can muster up verbs and

nouns--as well as human interest and proximity.

Of course, you can write a feature without conflict, human interest, importance, prominence, proximity or

unusualness, but if your feature has none of these qualities, it is probably not going to be very interesting.

And dull features do not appeal to anyone except perhaps the subject of the article.

However, unusualness is extremely important to the feature writer. A university teacher who turns

junkman is, in fact, unusual. A junkyard owner who earns his doctor of philosophy degree and becomes a

university teacher is equally unusual. On the other hand, a male registered nurse is less unusual, and

probably is not worth a story. Verification is the key to deciding if a story is truly unusual.

A strong human interest feature does three things: (1) It describes an extraordinary experience; (2) it

shows how people have coped with a problem common to many people; and (3) it focuses on a timely

issue of wide regional or national concern.

A human-interest story may emphasise such news elements as relationships, drama, conflict, or oddity.

While the inverted-pyramid pattern of organisation is not common in this type of feature story, punch and

anecdotal leads can be used effectively.

Another type of features are those of human interest or human value. This is very popular source of

writing features. Such features can be written on ever-green subjects like health, family, equality between

men and women, industry, economics etc. Nowadays, many newspapers and magazines are full of

features on freedom of expression.

Understanding the human interest story

There must be something appealing to the emotions, not only of the writer but also of the readers as well.

This could be developed from a situation or an incident, but must be based on facts of timely nature.

A human-interest story entertains the reader more than informs, except for the fact that it is usually based

on facts of a timely nature. It has little news value and probably would not be published except for the

interesting style in which it is written. Hence, it entertains the reader more than it informs though it

influences a great deal, in certain cases.

It must be short and crispy, averaging between 75 to 200 words. However, it is not as such a strictly

defined parameter.

It can be written about almost anything from living to inanimate that is, persons, places, animals and

objects. However, it is more personal and intimate, than being objective. Hence, it is meant for enlivening

the news pages, both in make-up and content despite the fact that it is frequently based on generally

accepted truths that everyone knows what happens when young boy meets his parents after he has been

kidnapped, but people like to read about emotions.

It is not necessary that it must be a story of an ordinary man; rather he achieving an extra-ordinary feat is

better, while the extra-ordinary person cannot be erased from this list.

Obtaining facts

The feature writer must develop a habit observing keenly and of being intellectually curious. He must

learn to think of interesting little happenings, and registering them, both in his mind and notebook. He

must also recognise particular sources of human interest, that is, any unusual situation or incident, which

can touch emotions by arousing interest or sympathy.

Any major news event can have a human-interest angle.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Knowing how to write

Think before writing by outlining the order in which you will present the facts, and from where to start

and finish, may be closing either with a surprise or dialogue, as most of the human-interest stories follow

the regular pyramid order. However, it is advisable that following a narrative or chronological order is

better because most of the human interest stories follow this order, whereas some stories follow a

combination of the pyramid and narrative orders.

Now the question is:

How many angles could be made possible? The writer must determine the emotions to which he wishes to

appeal. As such stories are short, the writer must appeal to only one emotion.

The writer must try to present a story in original way to hold the readers' interest. Secondly, it must be

written for a particular reader, not for everyone and any one as it cannot be consumed and understood by

all.

Avoid presenting the story in the form of a condensed synopsis, as it will not let the reader become

involved in the situation. A reader must become part of the event if the story is to be really successful.

However, try to build the story on one full-length scene, by not using too many details, and must be

bringing up few characters. Also avoid summary, if possible!

The writer can use `Direct quotation', as the more familiar the quotation is, the more interesting it will be

for the reader.

The usage of a question, striking statement, verses or quotation, paradox, contrast, description and literary

or historical allusions (more familiar the allusion is, the more it will be interesting for the reader) can be

pretty useful in making the story interesting. Succinctly, novelty intros are the key to hold the readers'

interest. However, do not give away the point of the story too soon.

One must be following the lead or intro with concrete, actual and solid details. Try to include some

dialogue if possible as the story becomes more personal the readers will hear the persons speak, and the

story looks more interesting.

The writer must be building suspense if he can, but it must not be over done. He must avoid telling too

much of a story, and try to explain just enough of a point to suggest the rest to the readers, as they like to

associate their own experiences with what they read.

The writer must never try to moralise, as it is all up to the reader to give meanings to the story.

He must use devices of the fiction writer to hold readers' interest by using simple, specific, exact and

colourful words, and short sentences. Hence the generalisations must be avoided, as the stress is on

`individualise the typical'.

However, do not sentimentalise or over-write something, besides avoiding triteness, lack of clearness and

verbosity.

Re-writing the story

If there is a need to re-write the story, it must be done by eliminating the following writing faults:

1. Stodginess (Boring)

· No unfamiliar in the familiar

· No phrases that hit off the ideas in ways that are different

· Clichés, platitudes, standard verbal equipment

2. Verbosity (Using too many words where a few can do)

Too many verbal stimuli for the required effect, inducing weariness, tempting readers to skip

3. Circumlocution (An indirect way of saying something, especially unpleasant)

The stimulus always coming, never arriving; hence the reader is always uncertain, impatient and

irritated.

4. Lack of clearness (Clarity in communication)

· Involved phrases

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Long sentences

Ideas badly arranged

5. Lack of dramatic quality (Novelty)

· No luring quality

· No awakening of the readers' curiosity

6. Abstractness (Nothing concrete in words)

· No vivid pictures

· Slips of the mind

7. Absence of rhythm (Flow of expression)

· Nothing which carries on

· Jerky

· Disordered

· Clumsy

8. Monotony of rhythm (Triteness)

No variety

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 12

NEWSPAPER FEATURE STORY

The concept is to write something like a non-fiction short story: quotation-filled, descriptive, entertaining,

informative. First, it needs to do some research check the newspaper library for previous stories about

the subject. Story will be even stronger if a nationally or an internationally recognised source is used.

Beginning reporters working for small-circulation dailies are expected to be able to write both news and

feature stories. Often a reporter's first months on the job may consist of even more feature writing than

weighty news writing, until a "beat" is assigned or the reporter otherwise gains the confidence of the

editor.

Feature writing, then, is a crucial weapon in the arsenal of writing talents required of the professional

print journalist, particularly now, when broadcast news also is focusing more and more on such popular

stories.

A feature story is a journalistic article that is typically both original and descriptive. Some feature stories

are geared toward entertainment with little information. Other features inform, but entertain little. The

best combine both aspects.

A feature story is original in two ways. First, it is original in respect to the way it is written. News stories

are commonly written in what is called the inverted pyramid style. This rigid form, which evolved about

the time of the American Civil War, demands that a story begin with a one-paragraph lead of one or

perhaps two sentences summing up the essence of the story. The lead is short, typically less than 35

words. The rest of the story is written in a declining order of importance, with information proceeding

from the most important to the least important.

The inverted pyramid made sense during the Civil War because stories often were filed using telegraph

lines, which could be disrupted at any time. In that situation, it obviously was a good idea first to send a

summary--or what journalists today call the lead of the story--and then to transmit the rest of the story

with information in a declining order of importance. The inverted pyramid style of news-writing makes

even more sense today, for two reasons. First, readers can quickly scan the story by reading the lead and

perhaps a few additional paragraphs. Second, busy editors can cut lengthy news stories simply by

removing less important material from the bottom of the story.

Unlike the news story's inverted pyramid style, the feature story's form is more fluid. Feature stories

probably date to the beginning of world journalism, but they began to assume their modern form in the

United States in the "penny press" of the l830s. They most strongly resemble short stories in structure.

For example, they have distinct beginnings, middles and ends. Feature stories, unlike news stories, aren't

intended for the scan-fling reader. They must be read completely in order to make sense. They also must

be edited carefully by removing various sections from throughout the text, rather than just from the end.

Features are also original because they can be about virtually any subject that falls within the realm of

"human interest," unlike news stories, which presumably are written only because they cover newsworthy

events.

Human interest obviously means what "interests' people and a good rule of thumb is that anything that

interests the feature writer and the editor is also likely to interest a substantial number of readers. Human-

interest stories can be about both "people" and "things," but journalists know that "people" stories

typically are more interesting and are more often read than are stories about "things." For that matter,

stories about unusual events are more interesting than stories about usual events.

In summary, if you've found a story about a person and something about that individual is unusual, you

probably have a good feature story idea.

Actually, feature stories need not even have the element of oddity for them to contain human interest.

Some feature writers maintain they can write a good feature story about absolutely anyone and have, in

fact, proved it by opening the city telephone directory at random, pointing to a name, and then doing a

feature story on the person they've selected.

An overview

Feature stories tend to be descriptive, another element of the definition. News stories are supposed to be

objective, which often precludes description. For example, the news writer would rarely describe the

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

subject of a news story by height, weight, hair colour, and kind and type of clothing, unless that

description was vital to the story. Yet the feature writer routinely uses this type of description.

A kind of description, evoking imagery, is encouraged in a feature story. But it would likely be edited out

of any news story.

A feature story must remain above all journalistic, in addition to being original and often descriptive. By

that, the feature writer is expected to subscribe to the same standards of journalistic accuracy as the news

writer. He or she must verify the information, quote accurately and be fair and precise with description.

And the feature writer follows journalistic "style." Style is nothing more than a uniform approach to

punctuation, capitalisation, abbreviation, titles and, in some cases, spelling. Most American newspapers

today have a fairly uniform journalistic style. At one time, however, newspaper reporters would have to

master a local style every time they moved to a new newspaper.

In summary, a feature is subject to the same accuracy and style requirements as any other story in the

publication.

A feature story traffics in entertainment or information or both. It should also have entertaining moments,

perhaps through examples or "anecdotes" told by the mechanic. However, there is nothing wrong with a

feature that's very entertaining, with little valuable information. "Entertainment" in this context can mean

an interesting, amusing--or moving--feature story.

A feature story, then, is significantly different from a news story. The feature has a beginning, a middle

and an end, and is intended to be read completely and edited with care. The feature can be written about

almost anything, but commonly is written about an unusual person, place or activity. It is accurate,

usually filled with description and may be sheer entertainment, information-oriented or a combination of

both.

Newspaper feature story types: News and timeless features

Unlike flavours of ice cream, there are only two basic kinds of newspaper features.

One type is the news feature, which usually is tied to a breaking news event, is placed in the same general

location as the breaking story, and is often written under deadline pressure. This type of news feature is

called a "sidebar," in that it is a "side" article that accompanies the main news story. A variation is a news

feature that appears after the publication of the hard news story. Such a follow-up story is often called a

"second-day" feature.

The other basic kind of feature is the timeless story, which does not have to be used immediately in the

newspaper and can sometimes be written leisurely over a period of two or three days or even weeks or

months.

The news feature is perhaps a little less common than the timeless feature in most American newspapers.

This may be because the news feature often results in at least two stories on a given event: the news, or

"cover," story and its news feature. Two stories, of course, mean the editor will have to find twice as

much space and commit twice the staff time to coverage of a single event. At many newspapers where

space and personnel are at a premium, editors are often reluctant to make that decision. In addition,

feature stories, because of their use of description and detail, are often very difficult to write under

deadline pressure. Thus, because of space, staffing and time problems, many editors are prone to ignore

feature angles on breaking local stories.

For example, assume you are the editor of a small-town afternoon newspaper. Your deadline is about

noon. A school bus filled with children on a field trip crashes at about 9:00 A.M., and you learn about the

accident shortly before 10:00 A.M. You could easily assign a reporter to the story, which could gather the

facts by telephone and have the news story written by noon. However, if you want a sidebar feature about

the crash--perhaps a personality profile of the heroic bus driver who pulled injured children from the

wreck-- the story would be far more difficult to write by the noon deadline because it would probably

require an interview with the driver, who might not be immediately available by telephone. In addition,

the thorough feature writer would want to see the crash site firsthand and interview witnesses as well as

surviving children. That means more time. All of this would be difficult for one reporter to accomplish by

the noon deadline and probably would require assigning a second reporter to write the feature.

A good editor would assign the second reporter to do the feature if a reporter were, in fact, available. If

the editor lacked personnel, the available reporter could write the news story for deadline and the feature

for publication on the following, or second, day of the coverage.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

It is also possible, of course, to write a news feature about a continuing news event and to publish that

feature on a day when there is nothing about the main event in the paper. For example, if gasoline prices

have been skyrocketing for the past few weeks, it might be appropriate to research and write a feature

about the expense of getting a gallon of gasoline from the well to the neighbourhood service station.

Here's another example. A child is bitten by a rabid skunk. A feature writer is assigned to do a story on

the medical treatment required for humans who have been exposed to rabies. This story might follow the

original news story by four, five or even more days. Both of these examples, however, are generally

known as second-day stories.

The other basic type of feature, the timeless feature, is described by just what the words imply--a story

frozen in time. Like frozen food, the timeless feature will keep for a long time without spoiling. A

timeless feature might be written in early March and held for April or even May before it is published.

The careful feature writer, of course, will check back with the subjects of the story before it is published

to ascertain that no facts have changed since the interview. In most instances, nothing will have happened.

In other cases, ages or addresses will have to be updated. In rare instances, feature writers will find that

major changes will have occurred, perhaps even including the death of the featured subject or of others in

the story.

The news feature and the timeless feature have a number of characteristics in common. They are original,

both in form and subject matter. They both use description to give them life. They are held to tight

journalistic standards of accuracy. They inform or entertain, and sometimes they do both. In short, they

both fall within the definition of what a feature story is supposed to be.

In addition, news and timeless features share at least one other characteristic: They are popular with

readers. Many studies have shown that readers of general-circulation newspapers tremendously enjoy

well-written features. And a feature story with a photograph is an almost unbeatable recipe for high

readership because studies have shown that pictures also have extremely high readership value.

And in that sense, feature stories are a lot like ice cream. Few ice cream lovers are neutral about a hot

fudge sundae smothered with rich, foamy whipped cream and capped with a blushing cherry. And few

newspaper readers are neutral about a well-written, anecdotally rich, professionally illustrated news or

timeless feature.

News features: Categories and appeals

Feature stories, while journalistic, are first and foremost stories, with beginnings, middles and ends.

These stories--albeit with different characters in different circumstances--tend to recur so frequently that

they can be divided into familiar categories built around topics of universal appeal.

Let's look at the categories first.

There are at least 15 widely recognised types of newspaper features and many more when individual

variations within categories are considered. All can be either news or timeless features, with the exception

of the "commemorative" feature, which is almost always tied to a breaking news event.

Remember that while some categories are about things, people are more interesting. The effective feature

writer will try to transform the "thing" feature into a "people" feature.

The Business Story:

The problem with the business story is that it is easy to write a lacklustre little feature about what a

business sells (such as live lobsters), makes (such as cardboard caskets) or provides (such as removal and

replacement of aircraft warning lights for television and radio towers). Such stories, however, are boring

(except to the owner of the business), and interesting stories are usually very hard to come by because

business owners are fearful of tarnishing their images and (unlike government agencies) are not required

to provide you with any information unless shares in the business are traded on the stock exchange.

Here's how you can handle the business feature. In most cases, you should focus on an employee or the

owner of the business. If the business has competition, you should look for a timely or unusual angle--a

reason for writing the story about that particular business at that particular time--and then try to

concentrate on an individual. You should also mention the competition to avoid the appearance of giving

the business free advertising space. On the other hand, if it is a business with no competition, you could

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

zero in on why the owner started the business and what impediments he or she faced on the road to

success. Success is a universal appeal often used by storytellers.

Above all, be aware that you are not writing a free advertisement for the business. If your article reads

like copy you would expect to see from the business's advertising agency, press the "delete" button on

your video display terminal and start over.

The Commemorative Story:

Commemorative stories are news features pegged to the anniversary of an earlier news event. The

commemorative story is usually written initially at the first anniversary, with other stories following at

five-year intervals. Depending on the event, you can interview people who originally were involved in the

story, or, if the individuals are dead or otherwise unavailable, you can write an article capturing the mood

of the anniversary.

The Explanatory Story:

You can show the reader how electricity or natural gas reaches consumers' homes, how a check written at

a store in a distant city reaches the local bank, how a television newscast is assembled, or how a radio

commercial is created. Again, you should focus on a person in the process.

Be forewarned: This type of story requires saturation research; you have to know almost as much about

the process as does the expert in your story.

The First-Person Story:

In the typical first-person story, something dramatic happens to the writer that is so personal that nothing

less than the first person singular ("I") is appropriate. For example, read the first 45 words from an award-

winning New York Times feature about toxic shock syndrome.

The Historical Story:

The historical feature is usually loosely pegged to a breaking news event, which gives the feature writer

an excuse to do some research in the library and to show readers how their community or world has

changed.

The Hobbyist Story:

Everyone collects something, ranging from stuffed aardvarks to matchbook covers. Some hobbyists have

extraordinary collections. As a feature writer, your job is to make certain that you are writing about the

right collector--the one with the biggest, best or most unusual collection in your area. Check this out by

talking to other collectors who can identify dealers who in turn can lead you to national publications that

provide a clearinghouse for collectors across the country. If you're about to interview a collector with

10,000 rubber ducks and the editor of the national publication serving rubber-duck collectors says that's a

big collection, you're in business.

The How-To Story:

The interview with one or more experts who advise the reader how to accomplish a tricky task is a meat-

and-potatoes newspaper feature story. Because experts make a living charging customers for such

information, they are often reluctant to give much free advice in an interview. Consequently, you may

find yourself calling a number of professionals before you are able to piece together a coherent, helpful

account. These stories are usually timeless articles but can be news features if they are pegged to a season

or a news event such as a flood (for instance, how to dry a wet carpet).

The Invention Story:

You have probably heard about an inventor who is developing a light bulb that never burns out or perhaps

toothpaste that stains teeth red when they are inadequately brushed. Inventors are good feature material.

But there's hitch to this kind of story: Inventors usually will not give interviews until they have formally

applied for a patent to protect their ideas, and conservative inventors will not discuss their ideas until a

patent has actually been granted, a process that often takes years. Timing is the key.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

The Medical Story:

People get sick. And people die, some well before their time. There are strong feature stories in illness

and death, albeit tough ones to write.

Let's look at stories of illness first. Serious illnesses require huge amounts of money. Some people don't

have adequate medical insurance. Thus, relatives of a sick person--often of a sick child--frequently seek

out feature writers to chronicle the family's financial plight in hopes that the story may trigger donations.

If the medical insurance is adequate but the disease is unusual, the medical story often is focused on the

struggle to find the appropriate treatment. If the ill person has recovered from the disease, a story can be

written tracing the struggle to overcome the illness.

A variation on the illness story is the medical breakthrough story, which often focuses on a doctor who

has succeeded in isolating the cause of a disease.

Stories about impending death are extremely difficult to write because of the emotional toll on both the

interviewee and the feature writer. Nonetheless, such stories are occasionally written. A person who

learns of terminal illness undergoes certain attitude changes. Eventually, many people approaching death

find comfort in leaving a message for the living--perhaps a warning to live life fully or to avoid the

habits that have brought on the disease. The feature story carries that message.

The Number Story:

This kind of feature uses interviews with experts and a familiar number such as "10" to put a problem--

and sometimes a solution--in perspective.

The Odd-Occupation Story:

Who washes the outside windows of the city's tallest building? What's a workday like for a modem

gravedigger? Who heads the city police bomb squad, and what does that work involve? And who changes

the little light bulbs on top of the local television station-transmitting tower?

Every community has scores of individuals with unusual jobs--occupations that are dangerous,

unappealing, or simply strange. Such stories should prove interesting to your readers.

A cautionary note: In the past, some fairly ordinary occupations became "odd" when a female selected a

traditionally male job--such as automobile mechanic--or a male opted for a traditionally female-filled

position, but less feature value exists today in sex-role stories. A male "nanny" might be interviewed in a

wider feature about child-care experts, but not merely because he is a male looking after a child.

The usual story approach requires you to find a person who has held an odd occupation for some time and

who enjoys it, and to interview that person about how the job is performed, why he or she chose the field,

or both.

The Overview Story:

Some kinds of features--for example, stories dealing with missing children or with arson--can be

supported with voluminous statistics from various official sources. These statistics can be used to provide

the reader with an informational overview of the problem, in addition to the emotional, humanistic

qualities you will want to inject into the story.

The Participatory Story:

Participatory stories go back to the days of Nellie Bly of Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Bly, whose

real name was Elizabeth Cochrane, had herself committed to a New York State insane asylum in order to

write about conditions there,. Frank Sutherland, a reporter for The Tennessean in Nashville and later

president of the Society of Professional Journalists, did the same thing in Tennessee about 75 years later.

And the participatory story is the trademark of writer George Plimpton, who, among other things, joined a

football team and acted in a movie for stories.

Hunter S. Thompson, who used to write for Rolling Stone magazine, called this blatant injection of the

writer into the story "Gonzo journalism." Gonzo or not, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with living a

role in order to write about it, unless you misrepresent yourself to write about the intimate details of other

people. And even that may not be wrong in the case of investigative reporters such as Bly and Sutherland,

who had no other means to investigate serious social problems.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

However, most feature writers using this approach will, like Plimpton, make arrangements beforehand

and will "live" the story with the permission of the participants.

In Pakistan, it is a rarity.

The Profile Story:

You can profile practically anyone or anything. Of course, profiles are usually written about people, with

their cooperation. You usually pick someone of interest, ask the subject for an interview, research and

then interview the individual and finally talk to other people who know the subject.

The profile--with or without cooperation--should paint a word portrait of the subject. The reader should

come away from the profile with an understanding of how the person looks, sounds, and thinks.

Groups, institutions, events, and things can be profiled, too. In fact, in the early 1980s writer Tracy

Kidder even profiled the birth of a computer in his award-winning book, The Soul of a New Machine.

The Unfamiliar Visitor Story:

A visitor often offers a unique perspective on a local problem, culture or event. If the visitor is available

for an interview, his or her perspective can often help readers understand their world better.

Some of these features tend to be further categorised because they are published in specific newspaper

"sections" such as business, entertainment, fashion, food, health, home, religion, society and travel. For

example, profile stories often appear in business, entertainment, health, religion, and society and travel

sections.

On the other hand, first person and participatory stories often wind up in newspaper Sunday "magazines."

And commemorative, historical and unfamiliar-visitor stories frequently find their way into a newspaper's

primary news section.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 13

THE NEWSPAPER FEATURE STORY IDEA

What newspaper readers want to read!

Newspapers try to perform five roles. There are lovely formal names for these roles--names such as the

commercial, information, opinion, public forum and entertainment functions. But readers, who are not at

all interested in the functions' fancy formal names, call the various parts of the newspaper package

"advertising, news, editorials, letters to the editor," and "the comics."

The names the readers use are self-explanatory, with the exception of "the comics." What readers really

mean when they talk about comic strips is the newspaper's ability to entertain and emotionally and

intellectually intrigue with material ranging from column to the crossword puzzle to the funny feature

story about the local issue or a person.

Comics, columns, crosswords and features are extremely important to readers.

The basic secret to writing features that readers will like is to recall that although features come in both

news and timeless varieties, they are, more importantly, also thing- or people-oriented. A feature about

how tombstones are manufactured would be a "thing" story, of course, but an article about the woman

and her wondrous bird would be essentially a "people" story.

Which would you rather read?

Probably reader will select man and dog story because strong features are almost always people stories. In

addition, the story has some traditional news characteristics that add to reader appeal.

News characteristics: qualities such as conflict, human interest, importance, prominence, proximity,

timeliness and unusualness. Let's look at each quality and see how these characteristics can add punch to

a feature story.

Conflict

Most of us live our lives with little major daily conflict which may explain why professional football and

boxing are so exciting to some people. Thus, real-life conflict is unusual and interesting for most of us.

Consequently, an explanatory feature examining why a 12-year-old Florida boy killed his mother and

little brother fascinated readers of The Miami Herald.

And a profile tracing a mother's year-long successful search for her missing 15-year-old daughter had

equal appeal for readers.

Conflict comes down to this: Would you rather read a story about a dramatic, emotional cross-country

search for a missing child or a business story about a wealthy local woman who opened a boutique

specialising in Scottish woollens?

Human interest

Human interest is hard to define for a few. Most editors say stories about children, animals or sex have

automatic human-interest value. So do stories about health. Consequently, a story about a little girl and

her father combing the city for her missing puppy has guaranteed reader appeal. So does a medical feature

about a young woman struggling to cope with acquired immune deficiency syndrome or one about a

doctor at a hospital trying to find a cure for baldness?

Importance

Importance refers to universality. The more people affected by the subject of a feature, the more readers

the story will attract. For example, a how-to story advising readers of a clever way to cut home electricity

bills by 50 percent has more importance--and probably more readers--than a how-to feature about

constructing a farm house. Why? Bringing down the electric bill has more appeal to most people than

does constructing a farmhouse.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Prominence

The Chief Minister of the province has prominence. Most probably, your best friend does not. A hobbyist

story about the governor's stamp collection has more reader appeal than a story about your friend's

similar collection. Names make news, the saying goes. Names also make features.

Proximity

Proximity simply means closeness to your readers. A story about someone who lives a thousand miles

from the newspaper's readers has less appeal than a similar story about someone in the newspaper's home

circulation area. So, an odd-occupation feature about a local university professor who junks his teaching

career to open an auto salvage yard has more reader appeal than does a story about a lawyer in another

province, who decides to become a pianist.

Timeliness means little to feature writers, unless they are writing a news feature.

Unusualness

However, unusualness is extremely important to the feature writer. A university teacher who turns

junkman is, in fact, unusual. A junkyard owner who earns his doctor of philosophy degree and becomes a

university teacher is equally unusual. On the other hand, a male registered nurse is less unusual, and

probably is not worth a story. Verification is the key to deciding if a story is truly unusual.

Is your trapper the most experienced or the best known? Is he the most successful, or is he at least

typical? Do other trappers respect him?

Of course, you can write a feature without conflict, human interest, importance, prominence, proximity or

unusualness, but if your feature has none of these qualities, it is probably not going to be very interesting.

And dull features don't appeal to anyone except perhaps the subject of the article.

How to get ideas

If you become a reporter, who occasionally receives a feature assignment, you will rarely have to worry

about unearthing feature story ideas. The ideas will come from your editor, and your most serious

problem probably will be transforming the editor's occasional sows' ears into silk purses.

On the other hand, if you are a full-time newspaper feature writer--especially one assigned to a Sunday

magazine or a features section--you will be expected to formulate many of your own assignments.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Madeleine Blais explains why: "At a magazine of a newspaper, usually the editors

will allow a writer to pick stories because they don't want writers spending months on material they don't

like."

Feature writers get ideas from a variety of sources. They read newspapers and magazines both for

national articles that can be localised and for area news stories that can be turned into features.

That process is called "writing off the news."

Feature writers often have long, neglected story lists. Most of stories are self-assigned, but always

appreciate a good suggestion.

Sometimes writers turn to the feature category first. For example, if you want to write an odd-occupation

story, you might chose the occupation first and find the specific subject later.

Feature writers also keep their eyes and ears open. They read billboards and advertisements in the Yellow

Pages, watch television, and listen to the radio, all in quest of ideas. They also tell friends that they're

looking for good stories and, often, friends tip them about people, places and things worth writing about.

Invariably, the ideas pour in--some worth investigating, others not, but all requiring focus.

Focusing ideas

Focus is simply a matter of reducing a potentially large quantity or material into digestible components.

When you go to a fast-food restaurant, you don't order a cow. You order a hamburger. When you write a

term paper for a world history class, you don't choose a mega-topic such as "The History of Germany."

Instead, you focus the topic on something such as "The Political Factors in the Selection of Berlin as

Capital of Germany."

And similarly, when you select a feature story topic, you don't begin with an idea such as "missing

children." You narrow the topic to a bite-sized chunk such as "teenaged runaways."

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

An unfocused feature wastes the writer's time. It also wastes the editor's time. If a feature is unfocused, it

is usually far too long. Removing unnecessary words, sentences and paragraphs is the editor's job. One

editor might send an unfocused story back to the writer for more work. Another more adventuresome

editor might hack through the verbiage like a berserk explorer pushing through the Amazon rain forest,

removing both the bad and occasionally the good with an electronic machete. Yet another editor might

simply kill the story, thinking--correctly, perhaps--that it's not worth anyone's rewrite time.

Worst of all, an unfocused feature wastes the reader's time, should it survive editing. In general, if a

reader can't figure out what the story was about in the first several hundred words, the reader will desert it

for more pleasant experiences.

Focusing, then, is a matter of narrowing. For example, let's suppose you want to write a feature about

prisons. Your first focusing decision is easy: Because you're writing for a local newspaper, you should

narrow the topic to prisons in your state or immediate locality.

The next narrowing exercise is also easy: Are you going to do a story focused on the keepers--the guards

and wardens--or the kept--the inmates? If you narrow the topic to the keepers, you have a number of

categorical possibilities, including an explanatory story about a day in the life of a warden or guard, an

odd-occupation story about an unusual prison employee such as a tracking-dog handler, a participatory

story where you arrange to be a guard for a day, or a profile about a key prison official.

Let's assume you narrow your focus to a profile about a little-known but important prison employee.

Whom do you pick? The chief prison administrator? The top prison doctor? A warden?

If you focus on a warden, you have to decide which one. Do you pick the youngest warden? The most

experienced warden? The warden who runs the toughest prison in the system? Research will help you

narrow your focus still more. For example, if one prison in the system has received heavy news coverage

lately because of inmate complaints, the warden of that facility may be your best bet. You should obtain

his name from prison officials and check the newspaper's library for background information on him. If

he looks like a good candidate, you have successfully focused your story.

While you search for a focus, don't overlook clues to the point of your story. The point, prior to any

interviews, is more of a question than an answer. Is the warden's religious faith, courage and

perseverance (assuming he has any of those qualities) keeping him sane in his high-pressure position? Is

the warden's story even more elemental: good (presumably the warden) versus evil (the inmates)? A

definitive point probably will not emerge until after interviews with the warden, colleagues and former

inmates, but thinking about what the story may be about before you write it also helps focus your efforts.

Ideas that didn't work

Newspaper feature writers usually get their feature once they have accepted an assignment. That's

because newspaper feature writers are professionals who understand that news organisations cannot

afford to assign too many time-consuming stories that don't pan out. Consequently, professional

newspaper feature writers have learned how to turn lemons into lemonade when necessary.

But you're probably a novice journalist.

Here are six-feature story ideas, suggested by beginning journalists. The ideas are for 1,500-word stories

for a daily newspaper with state-wide circulation. The ideas as suggested didn't work. Let's see why.

Feature Idea 1:

A business story about your city's first non-profit vegetarian restaurant, where lunch is the only meal

served, the menu is limited, and tipping is prohibited. The proprietor is a religious figure, who considers

chicken `haram' as it is not being bred through natural process.

Problem:

Too unfocused. This idea is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant. There are at least three good stories here; if

you focus on (or eat, to continue the simile) everything, you will have more than you can comfortably

digest. But if you choose one course, you will have a good meal. People are more interesting than things,

so a first choice would be a story about a religious person, who is serving his creator by serving hungry

people. An alternative selection would be to interview the employees of this unusual establishment,

particularly if they have worked for other restaurants and can provide colourful comparisons.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

A third choice would be to focus on customers who eschew fast-food hamburgers for the restaurant's

boiled beans and curried corn.

Feature Idea 2:

A how-to story about selecting and caring for a puppy.

Problem:

This story is unfocused also. Practically everyone loves a puppy (except those who have to clean up after

it). And practically everyone values free advice from professionals. So what's wrong with this story idea?

Books have been written about caring for them. The books about selection suggest that different people

want and need different kinds of dogs, so your first task is to focus on a type of recipient.

How about pre-school children? Then we need to lop off the "caring-for" aspect to keep the feature within

acceptable length. Finally, let's add timeliness--a birthday purchase--to let readers know why they are

reading this story.

Ultimately, then, our story is about selecting a birthday puppy for a preschool child. That kind of keenly

focused story will be easier to write and will make more sense to readers.

Feature Idea 3:

An odd-occupation story about a state patrolman on his shift.

Problem:

One of the first withdrawals from the idea bank that beginning feature writers make is the "ride-along"

story. Many police agencies make provisions for citizens to ride along with officers during a shift, and

reporters often take advantage of this opportunity to get to know the community and crank out a feature

while they are at it. But the ride-along story has been written so many times it's a journalistic cliché.

There are focusing techniques, however, that you can use to salvage this idea.

One is to pick a veteran cop working the toughest shift (that's 11:00 P.M. to 7:00 AM. on a hot weekend

night with a full moon) in the roughest part of town. Another is to ride with a specialist, the officer with

the most driving-while-intoxicated arrests for the preceding year. Another is to pick the best-educated

cop, the one with the doctoral degree in psychology. Focus, focus, focus.

Feature Idea 4:

An overview story about headaches and the various treatments for them, using prominent local

neurologists and university medical centre physicians as sources.

Problem:

Writing a story about headaches is like writing a term paper about "The American Short Story." How

about focusing on new non-drug treatments for tension-caused headaches? Or, if you want to focus the

topic with laser-beam precision, talk to paediatricians about headaches afflicting children. You'll also

want to find some headache sufferers to humanise the story.

Feature Idea 5:

A profile of a local apartment complex designed for the physically disabled.

Problem:

Profiling people is difficult; profiling a place is even more difficult. Are we going to read about the

history of the apartment complex or about how living there has made life easier for the residents? If

you're going to focus on the residents--and you should--the story will be easier to write and more

meaningful if the focus is narrowed to two or three typical residents. And you shouldn't just interview the

subjects; you should live their day with them to really get the feel of how the apartment design helps.

Ideas that worked

Professional journalists usually succeed in making their feature stories interesting. Experienced journalists

don't have a monopoly on good features; they only have a better batting average than beginners. Novices

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

do hit home runs. They succeed by starting with a good idea and focusing it. Here are some well-focused

features written by beginners:

· A commemorative story about a lawyer who fled his homeland and, two decades later, found himself

owning a chain of children's clothing stores in the United States;

· An explanatory story about how the clothes for the professional cricket team are washed to remove grit

and

grime;

· A first-person story about surviving an attack by a rabid dog;

· A historical story about past patrons of the oldest hotel, which is scheduled for demolition;

· A hobbyist story about a local resident who has the country's largest private collection of antique

automobiles;

· A how-to story explaining a prominent psychologist's tips for handling depression;

· A medical story about an ailing 76-year-old man struggling to finish his degree before he dies;

· A number story about how ten peculiarly named castes in the province got their names;

· An odd-occupation story about the state highway department's only full-time explosives expert;

· An overview story about efforts to relocate endangered species;

· A participatory story about spending a shift as a department-store;

· A profile of a blind fan obsessed with the "Star Trek" television series; and

· An unfamiliar-visitor story about a local university student trapped in troubled areas during a military

action.

Getting a solid feature story idea is a little like hitting a `six', which is the result of a good pitch,

combined with judgment, skill and a little luck on the part of the batter? Often, a large number of balls

must cross the plate before the batter sees a potential hit and swings. Like a batter, you should recognise

that you will need to explore many ideas before you find one worth developing. If you come up with a

dozen ideas and then carefully focus each one, you will have a good chance of scoring.

Newspaper feature writers usually size stories by column inches. A column inch is a block of type one-

inch deep and one-column wide or very roughly 50 words. Magazine writers usually size articles by the

number of words. Thus, 20,000 words convert to about 400 column inches.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 14

MAGAZINE FEATURE VERSUS DAILIES

Feature versus Column, News and Editorial

Feature versus Column

A feature is a dramatized description of the basic facts of news in interesting manner; whereas a column is

that form and shape of writing, which is allotted a special place in the paper under a permanent title. Both

feature and column draw their material and data from the news-stories, which in turn originate in the

society.

Column is rather a relatively personalized form of journalism reminiscent of past traditions and practices

in the sub-continent, whereas a feature is an informal type of writing in which any subject can be

attempted to make it an interesting description of a story. A feature is rather a long description ranging

from 1000 to 3000 words, whereas a column is rather a limited form of humorous writing.

A Column aims to laugh off a serious matter in light vein. It may contain the germs of criticism, sarcasm,

humour or similar elements; whereas a feature may be written on any subject under the sun and on the

earth, in informative, instructive, guiding, educative and in entertaining form in simple language and with

dramatized elements. A feature may consist of more than one headline, highlight and with abundant

pictorial material, whereas a column is a personal type of composition with no scope of pictorial

supplement and material besides of headline and highlight.

As to style and form of composition, a feature is narrative with dramatic elements with positive objective

to inform, educate, instruct and guide the masses in light and attractive style. On the other hand, a column

usually projects a personal touch, and is a direct address to the reader, creating an informed, friendly and

gossiping type of atmosphere.

A feature is a pre-planned venture requiring elaborate studies, preparation, collection of relevant data and

material from different sources as an interview, books periodical, magazines reference books and various

other sources. A column does not need any pre-planned studies, interviews and collection of facts.

A feature is usually related to recent issues, happenings and episodes, whereas a column takes the

universal moral, scientific end technical principles of happenings in the universe. A feature revolves

around a stylish composition with the sole and definite objective to absorb the attention of the readers

immediately, by creating suspense with the assistance of dramatic elements.

A feature is invariably written in narrative style of writing, with proper parts and paragraphs. Contrarily a

column is light writings, and frequently are drab, cold, logical and deductive style of writings. Besides

column has more than one style.

Feature versus News:

News is an event or happening about which people are most interested and anxious to know the details,

and a journalist likes to tell; whereas a feature is a spontaneous type of composition, developing on a

news-story of deep human interest with dramatic and narrative elements addressed direct to the readers in

an alluring and attention-absorbing manner.

News consists of bare and hard facts and presented similarly without any kind of addition or alteration. A

feature is an objective type of writing, sharing common pains, sufferings in national affairs to be

presented to the readers and the government

The features are universal, comprehensive, and all-enveloping type of writing based on hard facts of life;

whereas news is gauged according to different scales of territorial, geographical and human interests. A

feature does not necessarily make any difference or distinction between a caste, colour, or race or class of

people. News is value-oriented writing to a particular territory, or geographically limited and

comprehensiveness. Whereas a feature is of a universal value regarding of any kind of distinction or

difference, and appeals to the whole humanity equally and simultaneously. It has its psychological roots

in humanity. News may comprise elements of mobility, riots and disturbances, massacre, killings and

other forms of extremism. Human society has a variety of colourful activities, different aspects, angles,

reactions, which give rise to attraction and interest for the human beings.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Features are composed in view of the social inter-actions. News has a temporary existence, and is not

durable from its very nature and structure, and its values are always subject to changes and alterations.

Features are somewhat of permanent value basing their material and data on the facts relating to the

different aspects, angles and during human interest. Hence the interest attraction of a feature cannot

possibly be limited to any geographical areas. Features are preserved for future references. There is a

wide difference in the objectivity of the news and a feature. The scope and the objectivity of the news is

limited; whereas a feature is comprehensive and universal from its objectivity point of view, and its

effects are not immediate and emergency type as in the case of news, but are permanent. A feature writer

enjoys a greater freedom in his writing, in his approach to write a feature. In the feature, personal feelings

and passions can be included to make it a direct address or sermon to the readers. On the other hand a

report has to depend on the bare facts of the news, in his writing and approach and cannot possibly add

his likes and dislikes, and adopts the strict policy of not adding anything personal or impersonal.

Feature versus Editorial:

Editorials are collectively the name for those articles, published and given under the editorial page, which

may consist of a leading article and other small articles.

Editorials are usually written on serious matters of national and international significance, besides current

affairs. As such editorial articles are basically related to the national and international topics of grave and

serene nature and scope. Contrarily features are related to expository and explanatory affairs of light

nature and essentially related to the social order and structure, and are generally limited to the national

basis. Their scope and range relate to the social problem of the country or a nation.

The readership of the editorial is very limited one as being serious and drab prose, its objectives are to

instruct and educate the readers. The readers of the feature are numerous as their nature scope and range

and even the structure are based direct with relation to the general interest of the people, their social order,

structure and problems. The feature readers are countless who are deeply interested in perusing the

serious essays of feature composition, which are durable, effective and unique in nature and deeply

embedded in the psychology of the human beings. As for as the nature and structure is concerned, feature

are light socially-based articles, narrated in an attractive manner with profusion of dramatic elements;

whereas the editorials are based on good deal of research and investigation and its sources of information

and facts and figures are derived and deduced on national and international scale.

There is a wide difference between the objective of the editorial and the feature. A feature may appeal

rather adopt the mode of preaching or delivering moral messages; whereas an editorial is a problematic,

academic and investigational writings or articles, weaves in a cold and logical style of description. A

feature aims at projecting the social problems, ailments and diseases, diagnosing the underlying causes

and even suggesting the possible remedies and measures to tackle with them. Features take into

consideration the various customs, traditions and conventions with regard to their merits and demerits,

moral lessons, teachings, guidance instructions, serving the post-mortem of the prevailing social evils etc.

An editorial is an amalgam of superb material and data of current affairs, conveying the serenity,

seriousness logically arranged matter in cold and logical manner.

As to the types and forms, editorials are generally informational, deductive and entertaining articles which

are less attractive to the readers, Whereas features can be arranged in numerous forms and types as

commemorative features, experimental or research features, personality, based on travelogue and

countless other general features. There is a world of difference as to the style and language of description.

An editorial requires a high academic and literary style and language due to its very nature, whereas a

feature is composed in commonly understood and intelligible style and language; which naturally attracts

the largest a number of readers.

Magazine temperament versus daily paper

Certain differences are there between the magazine features and the features written for the Daily. Almost

the same is applicable to the `Freelance writer versus staffer'.

Mostly, magazines rely on the freelance writers besides the staffers of the magazine. No doubt, the latter

are more reliable, and can be held responsible for anything unwanted more easily than the former.

However, once a freelancer loses his credibility, it is always very difficult for him to get back on to the

track. Secondly, freelancers tend to be less communicative with the editor as compared to the staffer who

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

has to stay in touch with him. He can get his problems resolved more easily and quickly than what the

freelancer does.

An overview

Writing features for magazines and newspapers is quite a different ball game, and one can visible

differences in the treatment of the subjects. If not in entirety, then features for these both are different to

quite a large extent.

How people fare in both areas?

The writer has to consider before writing whether he is writing for a magazine or a daily. It is primarily

because of the nature of the write-ups, and the space where he has to be very careful.

Which is considered of more value?

No doubt, some hard-hitting features written for the dailies make a huge impact; whereas the importance

of magazines cannot be negated considering the fact that magazine readership is bit different, as it wants

subjects to be treated at length. Some people do call it `laid back approach' as well.

What it entails to be a feature writer for the magazine?

A feature writer of the magazine has to write in detail covering the subject from all possible angles.

Moreover, he has also to talk to a number of people, both experts and ordinary ones. Ultimately, it comes

out to be a long piece of writing, which is also occasionally divided in to short pieces, which added to

beauty of the display and enhance the readability.

Deadlines

Steep deadlines for the dailies

A journalist has to write mostly against steep deadlines while writing for dailies, whereas it is not a case

with the magazines as such. However, both case scenarios could be reversed, which is as such a rarity.

Nevertheless, a steep deadline is not a case for the magazine features, as their deadline varies from hours

to days and weeks. Hence the feature writer for the magazine is comparatively as ease, and can work

really well on his subjects. That is why, the magazine features are comprehensive and detailed ones.

Spaces

One finds shrinking spaces of the dailies, which are due to numerous reasons, like that of the

advertisements and lots of news items. Hence when the dailies have fewer spaces, this adds to the

possibility of less number of words, which is not the case with magazines.

That is why; features in dailies are always marred by short of space, which is why magazines become

more important.

Sometimes, for magazines, the writers are given a chance to come up with as many words as they like.

However, mostly, the word limit is specified.

Room to play

Journalists feel more comfortable, while writing for magazine, primarily because of the allowed word

limit, more space and long deadlines. Secondly, they have more room to play with ideas, words and space

besides being more time at their expense.

Thirdly, limited words are written for dailies, which are in minimum possible time, whereas one can write

at length for magazines.

Long life versus short

Dailies have short shelf life in comparison to magazines, whereas magazines have longer shelf life.

Dailies are once seen or read by the readers, and then put aside by them. Secondly, the magazine features

also become part of history, as people keep them in their book rags. Hence one can say the Dailies enjoy

less weight age in comparison to magazines, when feature writing comes.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Word limit

As said earlier, features in magazines are given comparatively bigger space and room, whereas there is a

less of margin in Dailies.

Playing with the idea

Practicing feature writing means that considering all ideas, and these all ideas can be put at one place

when it comes to magazine writing. However, this is not truly done for Dailies, where one idea is picked

up and tackled from one angle so that it could be accommodated in a limited space.

From all possible angles

For magazines, the Discussion on the subject is from all possible angles, which is not usually done for the

Dailies, as the feature writer is sticking to one point and presenting it, while never digressing from the line

given to the writer by the editors. However, a bit of a digression for magazine features is a possibility.

Display of the feature

Magazines give huge display to features, whereas the Dailies, which are always running short of space, do

not have this liberty. Secondly, the pictorial aspect of magazines make them more interesting for the

readers, which is also primarily because of the changed circumstances where the readers do not have

much time to read long pieces placed without any break in the text.

Giving what reader wants

Readers look for more and more information though they might be running against time. Their

satisfaction lies in the having the required material with them, even they do not have time to read them

fully. Only a magazine provides such an information and satisfaction to the readers.

Dailies do the same, but at the limited level and in different shades that is, coming up with follow-ups and

discovering news angles of the subject.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 15

WRITING THE SPECIALISED FEATURE STORY

It is 12 am, and the deadline for the late edition of your newspaper is 12:45 am. You don't have much on

your mind except late dinner when the city editor beckons you over. He is talking on the phone, but he

puts his hand over the mouthpiece and tells you, "Ali that kid who got bitten by the rabid dog just died.

Give me a piece on the rabies epidemic we had one or two years ago, will you?"

The city editor means that another reporter is writing the straight-news story of the child's death and that

you are to write a backgrounder on a previous rabies outbreak as an accompanying story. He means now.

He means in time for the late edition.

You know enough to trot to the hospitals and look under `R' for rabies (provided record is maintained).

With old news clips in hand, the lazy writer--and there are many such--would be content to rehash old

facts and hand the city editor a short review of the earlier news event.

But you're enterprising. While the clock ticks, you put in a call for a rabies expert in the provincial health

department whose name you've spotted in the old coverage. He's out, so you leave a call back and phone

the city communicable disease officer. You next phone the head of animal pathology at a nearby

university, at the veterinary university. Then you phone this year's president of your county's veterinarian

association.

Now you have fresh quotes and new facts to go with the old ones. The health department expert doesn't

get back to you, but you're able to hit your terminal and put together a fast feature about a worried

citizenry that has quadrupled its calls to animal-control officers about strays since the news first broke

that a rabid animal had bitten a boy.

You include potential danger signs in the behaviour of both wild and pet animals. And certainly you

include facts about the previous rabies outbreak that hit the city.

Instead of a simple backgrounder, you've written a sidebar.

SIDEBARS, PROFILES AND SERIES

Sidebars, Profiles and Series are three great staples of the newspaper and magazine writer. Like any

feature article, they can be thought up and proposed by individual writers, but they are among the features

most commonly assigned by editors.

Sidebars, meaning any story that accompanies a main story, might be little more than statistics, such as

listings of polling places to be run with a story on an upcoming election, but like profiles they often tend

to be "colour" stories, whether they accompany a newspaper story or a magazine article. Series can be

colourful, too, but they can also be anything at all that interests you, your editors and your readers. They

are often fact-filled and cover highly important topics.

The Deadline Feature Sidebar

Sidebars for a magazine, like any other magazine piece, are seldom written against extreme deadline

pressures. But newspaper sidebars don't always have that advantage. Because they often accompany

breaking news, they are frequently written against a ticking clock.

The subject matter of deadline feature sidebars is as varied as a day's news. They do, however, have

certain characteristics:

The sidebar can be straight fact, but it's often a feature story, strong on human interest

The sidebar is usually assigned by the editor.

The straight-news story that the sidebar is written to accompany is usually breaking news.

The sidebar may run on the same page as a straight-news story or it may run on the jump page or another

page altogether.

The sidebar must be able to stand independently. That is, it must contain a tie-back to the main story or

enough brief mention of the salient facts to enable readers to understand it even if they skipped the

straight-news story.

The sidebar often must be written with as much haste as the straight-news story it accompanies, but it can

be and often is written very well.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

As with any colour story, the sidebar can be bright if the main news event is a happy one or it can be grey

if the event is tragic.

The details you select to tell your tale will be dictated by the news event.

A deadline feature sidebar written by Linda Wilson of The Daily News in Longview, Washington, was

part of a massive Pulitzer entry in 1981. It is also a common type of feature written in exceptional

circumstances.

Wilson was assigned to cover a funeral.

Every reporter covers a funeral sooner or later. An assistant city editor hands you a scrappy pile of your

day's assignments, or the city editor simply yells at you, and you're off to attend the last rites of some

noted person, either famous or infamous, or some anonymous citizen unfortunate enough to have died

during a major news event.

Standing alone, the one sidebar still gleams with quality. And it wasn't an easy story to cover. As in any

funeral coverage, the writer had to interview grieving family members and friends. Not many mourners

welcome reporters at such times. To complicate the picture, the two dead 21-year-olds lived together but

weren't married, a common enough situation for the times but one for which suitable terminology and

even attitudes still hadn't been developed.

The Profile

Profiles, like sidebars, are major contenders for both newspaper and magazine space, though the term

itself may not always mean the same thing to editors and writers.

For a daily newspaper, the line blurs between the profile, the personality piece and the interview. In fact,

profiles are often referred to as personality pieces or personality sketches, the major difference being that

of length, whereas interviews may have a typical profile lead then move on to basic interview material.

Profiles are in-depth studies of miscellaneous people of whom nothing is required except that they be

interesting. Magazine profiles usually run much longer than newspaper profiles, but the major ingredient

is depth.

A true profile, whether short or long, must enable readers to see and get to know the subject, and you

can't accomplish that just by throwing in a couple of adjectives.

Most profiles are staff-written, because most newspapers and magazines have well-qualified writers on

their staffs who can handle any good profile idea.

The freelance writer who doesn't yet have a big name stands little chance of an exclusive interview or

series of interviews with a famous person. But lesser folk can be of great interest to them. The freelancer

on the spot gets the opportunity.

The profile is a staple of the writer's diet. Ways of writing them are as varied as the people about whom

they are written. Present tense is commonly used but is by no means mandatory. Attaining the necessary

depth is the trick, and this is accomplished by research, observation and skilful interviewing.

If a feature story has a news peg, the writer always is smart to make good use of it, and story has a strong,

straight-news element from the beginning.

In reading it, remember again the difficult process of selection that writers face when they have plenty of

material for a book-length manuscript but have only limited space in which to tell their stories.

It is best to interview both subjects and the subjects' acquaintances to get a fully rounded picture. But as

you have also seen, a good profile can be written without ever talking to the subject.

Several interesting writing techniques give extra punch to story.

Short paragraph style probably catches more eyes.

Half-dozen words per sentence, one sentence per paragraph!

No means boringly uniform in use of the one-sentence paragraph; frequently uses longer paragraphs; and

concentrates the one-per-graph technique in the beginning and end of the story, where needing dramatic

effect, first to interest the reader enough to start the story and then to bring it to a strong conclusion.

Although magazine writers rarely use this short-paragraph technique, you'll find it useful from time to

time in writing newspaper features.

One journalist even created a successful career as a columnist by developing a particular style that rarely

varied from the one-sentence paragraph, but it suited his material well. As with most writing techniques,

however, overuse is rarely a good idea. Overall, use extreme simplicity of presentation. Do not fuss with

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

the situation. The apparent simplicity by no means prevents skilful use of solid literary techniques, such

as the foreshadowing. Same simplicity to the strong ending.

All this, while writing on deadline. Good writers with well-polished writing tools know they can rely on

their skills.

The Feature Series

The series is a showcase of the daily newspaper, just as it is a standard for many top magazines. Writing a

series requires great chunks of time from both writers and editors. Running a series requires great chunks

of space. Although a feature series, like any other feature, can be written about any interesting subject, the

time and space commitment usually mandates that the feature series be focused on important subjects and

issues.

What effect will budget and tax cuts have on state aid to the poor? Is our water supply running out? Is the

religious right unduly influencing the selection of a state's public school textbooks? Any topic of

profound or far-ranging influence on a newspaper's or magazine's readership can and has been

considered a suitable topic for a series.

A finely crafted multi-part series can win in almost any category--public service, investigative reporting,

explanatory journalism, national reporting, international reporting.

Series often treat subjects of lesser importance. For example, when cities or states approach major

anniversaries, a replay of history is usually seen in series form.

Beats, such as medical beats, can turn up a feature series on new treatments or threatening diseases in a

region. Spring wildflowers can be a series topic in season, and wire services can and do generate series on

both serious and frivolous topics.

When a series is specifically a feature series, it, like general features, is usually told in terms of people,

rather than numbers and statistics. No series of any type can be written successfully using a straight-news,

inverted pyramid form.

The series demands that each new instalment be read as a one-shot story by the casual reader: It must

have an attention-getting lead; it must have enough of a tie-back to preceding instalments to make the

general topic comprehensible; and it should have a solid, preferably suspenseful ending to hook the reader

into coming back for more the next day.

The ability to be divided into satisfying segments, whether three parts or seven, distinguishes the

newspaper feature series from a single magazine article on the same subject.

Apart from this, the feature series and the article both require strong feature techniques and excellent

research and writing. The prose style of a series can be deliberately simple and understated.

It can be richly textured and bristling with apt quotes and facts. Or it can be some other style altogether,

suitable to the subject matter and well honed by the individual writer. But the prose must be excellent, for

you're writing a showcase piece.

To set the mood, start each of the four "chapters" in series with a lead describing a scene. Each begins

with a different person's point of view, and then is developed chronologically from material gleaned

through exhaustive interviews, transcripts and records.

Had the preceding material been less intriguing and dramatic, many readers might not have read this far.

But a compelling mystery on your hands, easily strong enough to keep the attention of most readers.

There's one more thing to watch for. Interspersed among the quotations are occasional presentations of

thought patterns. Some of the quotes were taken from the transcripts, others from interviews and

conversations. The thought patterns were based on people's recollections.

Story types

Now that you have all the tools to write your feature story, you need to decide what kind of story you're

going to write.

It's important to understand from the get-go what form your story's going to take.

There are five basic approaches to feature writing. For almost any topic you can adopt any of the five and

come up with a good story.

Each writer will have their own favourite approach, but it's important to be versatile enough to tackle all

five. (Usual favourite is the Explanatory Piece).

Below are the five different approaches you can take for a topic like the harm effects of smoking:

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Profile: People who have suffered diseases as a result of smoking

Explanatory pieces: How smoking leads to diseases

Issues and Trends: The rise of smoking among women in urban areas

Investigative: How cigarette companies use innovative marketing to target teens

Narrative: The story of the first person to successfully sue a cigarette company for causing him to

develop cancer.

Remember, it is important to be clear about the type of feature story you want to write. Don't jumble the

different styles together.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 16

MODERN FEATURE AND ITS TREATMENT

The modern feature is definitely marginalised by the time constraints of its readers. No doubt, with the

media boom, a lot of information is pouring in for the readers, who also the viewers of the television

channels, both local and international. Hence this `double dose' of the print and the electronic media is

considered to be pretty heavy on the minds of the people. However, both the media are providing them

with a lot of information as well.

It is also a point of concern for the print media men that the readers are facing time constraints besides

lack of interest on the part of the readers. On one hand, the media men are fighting on the front of keeping

the readers' interest intact, and on the other, due to the time constraints people are facing due to divergent

reasons; it is making the media men take some measures to keep their readership cling to newspaper

reading.

How reader is tight-scheduled?

No doubt, present day reader is tight-scheduled, and he has less time at his expense than the previous

years. Consequently, we have seen that the newspapers have adopted divergent changes to keep their

readership intact.

The same is true of the treatment of the Feature, which one can see changing as well, not only in its layout

rather in the treatment of the content as well.

The above-mentioned argument in any way must not be considered that the age of the newspapers is over.

It must be borne in mind that our print media has to also go a long way, not only in its quality rather

reaching out to rest of the population, which out number the present readership. However, it is

continuously changing, definitely for the better, but there is a visible down-slide as well.

One thing must be considered that even today the Pakistani reader is looking for good material to read,

and he keeps track of many incidents, and socio-political issues.

Readers' constraints

Reader is running short of time

The reader running against time, as he is interested in many divergent activities. His social life has

changed a lot over the previous years. Moreover, the electronic media is taking his lot of time. Besides,

his frequency of moving out of his home, besides his working hours, has increased a lot. Resultantly, he is

running short of time, and can only attend to those things, which are on his priority.

As newspaper reading is a voluntary one, hence he most of time browses the newspaper, and only reads

those news items or features which really make him to do so.

Looking to read only `interesting' and short pieces

As the readers is running short of time, he is only interested in reading those articles, features or news

items, which are really short and of huge interest for him. Hence the subjects of the features are very

carefully chosen considering the interests of the readers. Then these are developed into short pieces.

He needs break from the usual stuff

As the material should be different from the usual stuff, about which either the reader does not have any

information or the angle is totally different from the previous ones. Moreover, he is looking for different

material every time; thereby adding to the pressure on the editorial staff to come up with different

material discussed from divergent angles in entirety.

If long articles, he will read never

Long articles are considered to be cumbersome for the readers to read. Most of them think that they will

read that particularly long feature in the evening, as they do not have time in the morning, and it is rare

`that evening' arrive in the life of the reader as he might be busy in another chore by that time. The

maximum under the given circumstances, he will do is that he will keep that particular feature in his

record. Will he read that ever again? It is the million-dollar question.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

However, one of the suggestions is that one can and must break that particular long piece into different

small pieces, which should seem to be really `separable' from the rest. Arbitrary breaking-up of the long

feature can cause damage to its singleness.

His time being taken by other things

No doubt, the time of the readers has been taken by his social life and the electronic media. However,

some people have the habit of reading newspapers, magazines and books; so the writing is also for them.

Running against time with a lot of choices

No doubt, the reader is running short of time, and he has a lot of choices at his disposal. If one newspaper

is not coming up to the expectations of the readers, they can switch over to another immediately as there

are multiple of choices with them.

Less time, less space

If the reader is running short of time, so do most of the journalists, as they have look towards many other

issues including their self-improvement. However, they have to write against the steep deadlines as well.

Hence one can say that they have less time to write more. Moreover, they have less space in the

newspapers to accommodate maximum in the form of more information, but less of words to be used in

writing that.

On the other hand, the writers are well-aware of their readers', editors' and newspapers'

limitations.

Short pieces

This is no more an age of long articles, and the writers prefer to write less (less number of words), but try

to say more, that is, communicate more, while taking into consideration what makes it interesting for the

readers.

In most of the newspapers, one can see writers are not writing long pieces, as there is no one out to reader

all. That is why; breaking long articles in to short, but comprehensive pieces is being practised, and

advised.

It is also of huge importance that short and crispy articles fetching more readerships.

Emphasis on layout

This is the age of colour and beauty to attract the readership and due weightage is given to pictorial layout

of the newspapers. The layout designers are especially employed for improving layouts, as they are not

only qualified rather are also experienced. This trend was not there a few years back, but now even the

vernacular newspapers are employing university graduates.

It is so after the realisation that importance is no more given to dull and drab `black and white' pages.

However, these pages can also be made look good through the designing.

Writing good pieces, then coupled with better layouts, hold the key to beautiful magazines and

newspapers.

Pictorial importance

Present-day journalism is giving huge importance to pictures, maps and illustrations as quite a large

number of readerships likes to evaluate a newspaper or a magazine. Moreover, quality pictures and

illustrations make a publication look beautiful.

On the other hand, writing short pieces and highlighting them with good pictures make the reader to take

more interest. And pictures with interesting captions make the publication more interesting.

Pictures without captions mostly carry no meanings, and in most of the cases, these are considered to be

`mum' pictures. This is usually done in magazines as almost all the pictures published in the newspapers

are captioned. However, the quality of the captions can vary.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

Now emphasis is laid on using quality pictures by exploiting all possible sources, including office

photographers.

Interesting headlines

One must avoid traditional and trite headlines, as oft-repeated subjects and titles make the reader think

that the editors are no more creative. Coming up with interesting and attention-fetching headlines is

considered to be of huge import. Avoiding already used headlines and coming up with new genuine

expressions are always good.

Another trend of giving by-lines and catch-lines to get the reader more interested in your feature.

Pictures, maps, etc...

One must not undermine the usage of pictures, illustrations and maps, as it makes the reader know what is

the written-matter carrying. This is only possible through good pictures, because present-day feature

makes it happen for the readers.

On to Urdu journalism

Urdu feature is catching up fast with the trends of English journalism, as the Urdu reader is almost of the

same view about reading a newspaper like that of English. Hence one can see an abundant usage of

pictures, cropped heads, small pieces and comments separated from the rest of the pieces. These all tools

are used to keep the readers' interest intact.

Briefs

Emphasis is being given on short pieces because these take less time to read besides making the reading

easy. Moreover, it also helps in getting the idea across to more readers more easily. In today's journalism,

long articles are avoided, and breaking up of the long pieces into many short pieces is preferred.

However, it is done while considering the importance and subject.

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

LESSON 17

MODERN FEATURE WRITING TECHNIQUE

The Blundell Technique

First attempt at feature writing can be a total mess coming back with all kinds of interesting nuggets of

information. And resultantly included all of them in the essay. One can thought it might have been great.

Story can be too long, no structure and basically can go nowhere. There are bits and pieces of interesting

stuff you have in there but after reading the first few paragraphs, one is totally lost. One doesn't know

where the story is heading.

Showing it to a senior definitely helps.

However, present day writer can use an approach developed by William E. Blundell, who pioneered the

technique for the Wall Street Journal (and later wrote a book entitled `The Art and Craft of Feature

Writing').

Blundell's technique is still used by the Journal and countless other papers.

Here's a simple outline of the Blundell Technique:

1. The Lead (Intro)

2. Nut Graph (Angle)

3. Main Body (Blocks)

4. Conclusion (Ending)

Let's elaborate further on the Blundell Technique:

1. The Lead

The lead (or intro) for the article is typically three paragraphs long. It's usually an interesting anecdote

that may not, at first glance, seem to be related to the topic at hand. Its purpose is to provide an interesting

and

Simple-to-understand illustration of the issue you are writing about (the anecdote is basically a

microcosm of the bigger story you intend to tell) and to draw your readers to the Nut Graph. (By the time

they read the Nut Graph, they would have understood the Lead's relevance to the story).

When journalists talk about the beginning of a story the word they use is "the lead". Sometimes it's

spelled "lede", a throwback to the pre-computer age when the word for the intro to the story had to be

distinguished from the word for the molten lead used in printing newspapers.

An effective lead makes a promise to the reader, that you have something important and interesting to tell

them. A good lead beckons, invites, informs, attracts and entices.

The best kinds of leads are anecdotal in nature. The short story is meant to be a microcosm of a bigger

issue.

Here's an example of a three paragraph lead followed immediately by a Nut Graph.

(Three Para intro)

For five days, Alia's husband, high on drugs, threatened to kill her. He hit her and abused her.

Terrified, Alia fled the house when she finally got the chance and ran to a local business to call the police.

"He would kill me. He's very scary," Alia said. "He would walk through walls if he had to."

(Nut Graph)

The police advised her to contact the Domestic Violence Centre in the Federal Capital, and Alia found her

way there.

The anecdotal lead above uses one specific example to illustrate a larger topic. In this case, Alia's story is

a gateway to a larger story on the Domestic Violence Centre.

Anecdotal leads are a mainstay of feature writing. When used well they can be very effective in drawing

the reader towards the Nut Graph.

Here are some comments by some journalists on Leads:

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

"I look at leads as my one frail opportunity to grab the reader. If I don't grab them at the start, I can't

count on grabbing them in the middle, because they'll never get to the middle... My leads are there to get

you in and to keep you hooked to the story so that you can't go away."

N. Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune

"I might write the first sentence 10 different times. Take a look at it, and it's not quite right. It's the right

thought, but it's not the right wording. Or it's the right wording, but it's not the right thought."

Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times

"I have to have a lead or I can't write anything. I have to have my first sentence, because that's my whole

piece. That's the tone that says what is this piece about, it's the theme, the thing by which everything

hangs. If I don't have that first sentence, I just can't keep going forward."

Susan Trausch, The Boston Globe

2. Nut Graph (Angle)

The Nut Graph is a paragraph that explains your entire article in a nutshell. Many writers find the Nut

Graph to be the hardest aspect of feature writing. Once they've figured out their Nut Graph, everything

else falls into place easily.

The relationship between the Lead and the Nut Graph can be thought of in this way:

The intro highlights an individual case. The Nut Graph, meanwhile, illustrates how that individual case is

actually representative of a bigger trend or how it fits into a bigger overall picture.

This is a well-worn formula that's still used by the Wall Street Journal and countless other publications

today. Central to this approach is the Nut Graph. Without it, you really don't have a story. Blundell calls

it "the main theme statement, the single most important bit of writing I do on any story."

Remember, in the Blundell Technique, up to three paragraphs can be used for the intro (but never more

than three). Here's an example of a Blundell Technique used in a story in the Financial Times:

(Three Para intro)

Physicists are just like the rest of us in at least one respect. When they go online to search for information,

they expect the earth.

Bebo White, who runs the website for the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre, a high-energy physics

laboratory in California, knows this all too well. 'They get very frustrated if we don't return good results,

and quickly," says Mr White.

And what do the expert visitors to the centre's website look for most often? That day's cafeteria menu,

says Ruth McDunn, another technician on the site.

(Nut Graph)

Call it the Google Effect. Expectations of search engines have skyrocketed. Whether it involves complex

specialist knowledge or the completely trivial, there is a general belief that everything should be available

instantly at the click of a mouse.

Many writers really struggle to find a Nut Graph for their stories. This is because they are not clear what

their stories are about in the first place.

Address this question: "What is this story really about?" in one word. Greed, politics, sacrifice, loss,

redemption, family, hope, freedom? It could be any of these things. But once you know what your story is

about, you will have focus. A good story should leave a single, dominant impression. This is called your

'angle'.

Now all you have to do is to express your angle in two or three sentences.

That is your Nut Graph.

Journalists say:

"The most important thing in the story is finding the central idea. It's one thing to be given a topic, but

you have to find the idea or the concept within that topic. Once you find that idea or thread, all the other

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

anecdotes, illustrations and quotes are pearls that hang on this thread. The thread may seem very humble,

the pearls may seem very flashy, but it's still the thread that makes the necklace."

Thomas Boswell, The Washington Post

Ken Wells, a writer and editor at the Wall Street Journal, describes the Nut Graph as "a paragraph that

says what this whole story is about and why you should read it. It's a flag to the reader, high up in the

story: You can decide to proceed or not, but if you read no farther, you know what that story's about."

3. Main Body (Blocks)

The main body of the article consists of several blocks, each representing a different aspect of the main

story. It's always a good idea to pepper your blocks with quotes and examples to make it more interesting

and credible.

With the Nut Graph sorted out, it is now to share with you another aspect of the Blundell Technique. And

this has to do with the blocks that he uses to organise materials for his feature stories. The body of the

story is a series of information blocks. But they're not about time. They're organised by subject.

In a story about egg production, one block might be about foreign competition. Another might be about

the environmental effects of an egg farm. Another might be about daily work on the farm.

These are arranged in the way that seems to best support the focus of the story. Writers will usually find

clever ways to bridge each of these blocks. Or they might insert subheads to introduce each section and to

help organise the story.

The block structure pares a big, overwhelming writing job into manageable chunks for writer and reader

alike.

Each block should make its point with three examples, proofs or illustrations. (Two are too few; four are

overkill)

Blundell has six key blocks that he would use in his feature articles:

History: What's the background to this situation?

Scope: What is the extent of the problem?

Cause: Why is this happening?

Impact: Who and what is affected by this?

Action of contrary forces: Who is doing what about this?

The future: How is it going to be in the coming days, weeks, months and years?

Not all these blocks need to be included in your final story. Nor must they appear in the order presented

above. But if you have the material to answer all six questions above, you've got the ingredients for a very

good feature.

4. Conclusion

The conclusion is something that ends your story with a punch. There several types of conclusions. The

best kind usually contains a passage that either sums up and/or reinforces the central message of the story.

In feature writing, leads get most of the attention, but endings are equally, if not more, important.

A good ending absolutely, positively, must do three things at a minimum, says Bruce DeSilva of The

Associated Press

Tell the reader the story is over.

Nail the central point of the story to the reader's mind.

Resonate. "You should hear it echoing in your head when you put the paper down, when you turn the

page... It should stay with you and make you think a little bit."

There are three conventional types of conclusions.

The default one used by many writers is to end with a snappy quote from someone mentioned earlier

in the story. But it's the lazy man's approach to conclude writing (using this technique, usually when the

deadline is fast approaching).

Feature and Column Writing MCM 514

A better approach is to tie the conclusion to the lead. So, if you start off with a particular anecdote, you

also end with something related to that anecdote. Occasionally, this approach is used. But be aware that it

can get a bit corny if you don't do it well or use it too often.

The best approach is to provide some solid facts to sum up and reinforce the central message of the

story. You can use a specific detail, a concrete image, a fact or a statistic to conclude the story. But it

must be impact and memorable.

Table of Contents: