Introduction to Music Journalism

How to write a Magazine Article

Magazine Journalism

There are different types of articles you can write..

• Personality profiles • Human interest stories• Trend stories • Analysis stories • Interviews (including Q&As)• Reviews

Magazine Journalism- Feature Writing

• Key function is to humanize, to add colour, to educate, to entertain, to illuminate.

• May or may not be tied to a current event.

• Will often be longer than a traditional news story (800-100 words.)

• Written to hook the reader and draw them into the story.

• In magazine journalism (unlike hard news journalism) you can offer your opinion!

Magazine Journalism- Feature Writing

• Remember the agenda of the journalist ( you) and the interviewee…

• Agenda of the interviewee= • to sell/promote themselves ( their image) A tour, album, film,

TV programme etc…

• Agenda of journalist = • to get a good story that will appeal to their audience

(interesting, controversial etc…)

Think about your audience!

• You must write an article that will appeal to your target audience.

• Think about the focus of the article and plan.

• Don’t insult the reader – nobody is impressed by a word they don’t understand! Keep it simple!

• Swearing may be relevant/acceptable for your target audience – but not all!

Common mistakes in music and all journalism!

• No artist will sit and talk for ages about what it is like to be famous!

• They do NOT want to be seen as an ordinary guy from Oswaldtwistle !

• The readers of music magazines aren’t interested in their favourite food or brand of jeans!

• If your artist/star is not real be creative – also they should already be established in some way.

• If you are using real artists you can make answers up if they are a little boring!

Writing the Article

The Development of Pop Music from 1950 to the Current Day.

The Inverted Pyramid Structure• In a straight news story, it's best to get the most

important information in your story up to the top.

– Your reader will often stop reading after the first few paragraphs, so its important that they have a good grasp of the story.

– Put the least important stuff at the end.

– and leave the unimportant stuff out altogether.

Length of Paragraphs

• This is different to an essay.

• Keep your paragraphs short (two- three sentences) and make each of your

points concise.

• Readers grow tired of big blocks of text, so it's best to break it up a bit.

Observations• Feature stories allow you to add details that are observed…not just spoken..

Sprinkle …

• direct quotations, • observations • and additional background

throughout the story

The Headline• Conveys the general message in however many

words will fit the small space allotted.

• A headline should be informational, and can be clever… (puns etc…) or quotes from the interviewee …..as long as the cleverness does not interfere with the information or insult the reader’s intelligence.

The Lead

• Rather than put the news elements of the story in the lead, the feature writer uses the first two or three paragraphs to set a mood, to get the readers interested and to make the, want to read more.

• You should use the 5 Ws ( and 1 H) within these 2-3 paragraphs.

Who, What, When, Where, Why(The 5 W’s)

• Basically, just like it sounds. This lead tries to answer the 5 Ws in the first few paragraphs.

Example:

“After 20 years of rocking the mic, LL has come full circle. On his latest Exit 13, LL looks to end his career with Def Jam as strong as he started.

A multi-faceted actor, rapper and fashion icon there isn’t much he hasn’t done. He is a legend who has stood the test of time – but is a new generation interested in his story?”

• Also you can include 1 H – How?

Text Grabs

• Often these are used to break up the blocks of text.

• These are key words or sentences from the article that are used to hook the reader.

• They are usually funny, interesting or controversial.

Wrapping it up

• The ending should wrap up the story and come back to the lead…..

• often with a quotation or a surprising exciting ending or twist….

REMEMBER:The Inverted Pyramid Structure