Journalism E-100Proseminar in Journalism:

Writing and ReportingInstructor: Angelia Herrin

July 17, 2008

Elements of a Great News Feature

First focus

WHAT IS THIS STORY ABOUT??? WHAT IS THE POINT? WHAT DOES IT TOUCH?

Find Your Pivot Point

Ask yourself: What’s the news, and what’s the point? Then look for the pivotal moments that make a story dramatic.

• When things change• When things will never be the same• When things begin to fall apart• When we learn lessons• Who you don’t know how things will turn

out

History

• What is the past and present of the situation or issue that you’re writing about?

• Are there historical details that help explain the present?

• What background does the reader need in order to understand what’s going on now?

Context

How can you let people know how big this story is? Three suggestions:• 1)Statistics: This problem affects 10,000

Americans every day.• 2)Your observations: Lawns across Monroe

County are brown and dry this summer.• 3)Experts’ assessment: Some doctors say this is

the worst outbreak of whooping cough they’ve ever seen in Bloomington.

More Context

2) Is something similar happening elsewhere? Is this broader than just what’s happening here?

3)To what degrees are people involved? How much impact does it have on their lives? Is it dramatically changing their behavior?

Reasons

• Why, why, why?• Why is this happening now?• Has something changed?• Is there a new leader?• Does the economy play a role? Greed?

Religion?

Impacts and Consequences

• What are the consequences?• Do you have both numbers and real-life

examples?• Who is likely to be helped by this?• Who is likely to be hurt by this?• What is the emotional response?

The Future

• If this trend continues, what might happen?

• Experts’ predictions, statistical projections, thoughts of people directly affected.

• You should not do the speculating!

Tools of the Feature Writer’s Trade

Are you ready to be a storyteller?

Can you – and the newspaper – get out of the way? Are you allowing the reader to feel as if they are witnessing the event?

Hard News Version• A 61-year-old Middlefield woman was rescued

Monday after her vehicle slid over an embankment and into the Connecticut River.

• Mary K. Kokoszka was driving onto Route 9 from Hartford Avenue when her vehicle, a Chevy Blazer, hit ice, police said. She was trapped inside the Blazer, which sunk in ten feet of water.

• A commuter who was driving on Harford Avenue saw the accident and stopped to help police said.

Feature Version When Jim O’Brien left home Friday, he was a

commuter. Along the way he became a hero. Waiting in a line of cars on Hartford Avenue

about 7 a.m., he saw a woman pull her Chevy Blazer onto Route 9, hit an icy patch and go into a spin. The car slid off to the road and into the Connecticut River.

“As soon as I realized she going over the bank, I realized somebody has to go in,” said O’Brien. “Who else was going to do it?”

Reporting tools• Can you ever have too much detail?• You may not know exactly what details you will

need when you write your story. So gather all the details you can – from how many steps to the door to how many times the phone rings.

• Ask what were people thinking, saying, hearing, smelling, wearing and FEELING. Be precise

• Don’t chicken out because you are on the phone!!!

Detail Ladder Device• A dog• A Lab• A white Lab• A white Lab named AnnaLee• A white Lab named after AnnaLee, who is

mentioned in the song “The Weight”, recorded by The Band

• (Apologies to William Ruehlmann, Stalking the Feature Story)

• Too much description is a dangerous thing….

Writing Tools

• Avoid Adjectives. Write about specific detail with strong and vivid nouns and verbs, but avoid modifiers. When you use adjectives you run the risk of inserting your opinions.

• Remember what Norman Mailer said.

Use Analogy. But NOT TOO MUCH!

• “Now 891 pounds and climbing. That’s more than twice as much as Sears’ best refrigerator-freezer – a 26-cubic-footer with automatic ice and water dispensers on side-by-side doors. That’s almost as much as a Steinway piano. He’s fat.”

UsePhysical Description BUT

Use physical descriptions only when they are relevant to the content. Avoid descriptions tacked onto impersonal quotes. Avoid sexist and racist descriptions.

OH SO PAINFUL EXAMPLE “The study shows college students are

becoming more conservative,” the researcher said, blinking her blue eyes and clasping her carefully manicured hands.”

Show People In Action!

• Don’t tell the reader, let her see the subject in detail, particularly in motion.

“Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.” Mark Twain.

So Which Structure Is Right?

Consider the Laws of Progressive Reader InvolvementStage one: Tease me, you devil (Give the reader a reason

to continue)Stage two: Tell me what you’re up to. (OKAY, so)What is

the story really about?Stage three: Oh yeah? Prove what you said. (include the

evidence to support your theme)Stage four: Help me remember it. (Make it clear and

forceful and give it a memorable ending)Credit to William Blundell, The Art and Craft of Feature

Writing

ONE LAST PIECE OF ADVICE

MURDER YOUR DARLINGS