NEWS
FEATURE
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timely
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brief
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meant to inform •
timeless can vary in length meant to entertain
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The main objective of writing feature stories is to enter entertain. tain. It has has anything under the sun as its subject. Among the dif different ferent categories on Campus Journalism, Journalism, the feature fea ture has the widest source of subject.
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A feature featur e story may explain or supplement supplement the news. news. Yet, although it may explain, explain, it is not opinionated. The feature featur e story is the most varied in scope, purpose or style. Features add add life and vitality to any paper.
1. Creativity – Feature stories give the writer a free hand to write anything. From the most ordinary to the bizarre or most unimaginable subjects subjects.. Creative presentation and the use of language counts a lot. But howe however ver creat creative ive featur feature e articles ar ticles maybe, they they must be based on date gathered, not merely on the imagination of the writer wri ter..
2. Human Interest – Feature stories are best when written on the first person accounts. Through the imaginative treatment of the material, coupled by the writer’s own thoughts and emotions emotions, feature fea ture story stor y become entertaining. 3. Factual Content – What has not been covered by the hard news is provided by
4. Entertainment Enter tainment Value Value – It provides the break in the monoton monotony y and gruesomeness gruesomene ss of war war,, murder, rape, scandal, disaster, disaster, corruption, cor ruption, political bickering, controversy, and other grisly news that fill the news page of the paper.
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The paper gives color, life, or mood to the event ev ent or subject subject.. In talking to people of different walks walks of life, the feature writer writer produces a highly enter enter taining material about the people around him, their thoughts, their emotions, their feelings, giving the material the needed ingredients for humaneness humanenes s that appeal for a greater readership
5. Timeliness or Imperishab Imperishability ility - Feature stories, unlike news stories, do not lose their usefulness. 6. Entirety – Feature stories are read up to the end so the writer can place the climax (the highest point of interest) at the end unlike news where where the most significant information is in the lead.
7. Variety of tone and style – Most feature stories begin with the novelty lead. They They barely start with the summary lead. 8. Organization – To achieve ach ieve unity, unity, cohere cohe rence nce and emphasis, apply the principle of creative writing. Featur Feature e writing allows the use of colorful phrases and figurative language. The writer may employ these provided they add up to the beauty beauty of the article.
It has the title, the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.
The Introduction – The introduction or lead should out rightly attract the attention and interest of the reader reader.. It should be an astonisher.. It is very impor astonisher important tant to draw the interest of the reader in the very first paragraph so that they will continue reading the article.
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Select a topic that has reader appeal
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Narrow down the topic to give the story focus
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Find and use at least three primary sources of information
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Identify all sources
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Ask questions that require more than “yes” or “no” answers
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Use strong quotes-use those that provide more than facts
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Play on the reader’s emotions
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Write a strong lead
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knows how to look beneath the surface of everyday events investigates various angles of a story to get the story behind the story.
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is a keen observer
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has varied interests
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Has the ability to write in an interesting
Question lead – asking a question where the answer is found in the story. story. a) Are you a vegetarian? b) Animal milk for my my baby?
Exclamation lead – the opening sentence by Exclamation its very nature compels attention. a) Jump or die! b) Believe it!
Quotation lead – Begin the lead with a quotation which will draw interest. a) “Gone are the days when children are only seen and never heard.” b) “Mirror, mirror on the wall. . . “
Descriptive lead – gives a vivid description of a place, person, or situation creating a picture of it in the mind of the reader. reader. a) A slippery, muddy, winding road in an eerie isolated place where no one dares to tread. b) Tension, excitement, adrenalin, pumping, stomping of feet, shouts of cheers. This means the season of sports activities in school. In shor short, t, intrams!
Striking statement – A short snappy statement set off in a paragraph by itself. a) Hope at last to the people of Malauli. b) Eva Gracia, mother at 12
Contrast lead – The lead points out the opposites and extremes that are sharp and witty. a) They were given a new house, P 50,000 richer,, a full scholarship richer scholarship grants to all all the three children but they could not get over the death of their parents in the fire that that gutted their house.
Narration lead – the lead is written in the form of a narration. a) The day started with a parade of students in colorful costumes and uniform. From the school quadrangle and around the community then back to the school covered covered courtt for the opening program. The school cour is celebrating its 38th foundation anniversary.
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The body of a feature featur e story must have unity, unity, coherence and emphasis emphasis.. It must must be be able able to hold and sustain the interest of the readers Feature stories have shorter paragraphs than those of literary short stories but longer than paragraphs in a news story.
In the body, the writer makes use of descriptions, narrations, figures of speech, idiomatic expressions, quotations, surveys, statistics, anecdotes and other expressions that give color to the story.
Set aside unnecessary unnecessary details not directly dir ectly related to the main subject. A theme (main idea) must be carried all throughout t hroughout the story.
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The conclusion maybe written in a condensed summary or state the important points in the story.. Or give the highest point of interest story (climax). Be sure to leave an impact to the reader for them to remember.
1. Choose an interesting subject. 2. Slim down your topic to just one specific area. 3. Give it a tentative title. (This will keep you within the circle of your topic.) 4. Prepare your outline. 5. Highlight important things you wish to feature. 6. Concentrate on the most important feature with specific details. Use data gathered from interviews,, research, and personal interviews experiences.
7. Use the different differ ent devices that will make your story interesting to read. Devices such as figures of speech, idiomatic expressions, quotations, passages passages and the like will add up to the beauty of your story. 8. Revie eview w what you have written. Delete what what is not needed, check if some things were omitted. 9. Rewrite your piece. 10.Check 10. Check you you title title (head). (head). Is it catchy enough to attract reader’ reader’s s interest? inter est? 11.Make 11. Make the final copy.
1. Informative feature – Gives information on subject of current curr ent interest. This feature is usually based on interview and research. 2. Human Interest Feature – It deals with minor incidents that deserve attention because of dramatic, humorous, humorous, tragic, tra gic, sensational, or unusual (odd) angle of the story. story. This kind of feature story appeals to the emotion, it may have a lesser news value but it enjoy wide readership because of its human appeal.
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News Feature News Featur e – It gets its materials from current curr ent events events,, covering covering details that tha t were wer e omitted by the news.
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How –to – feature – It gives information on the process of doing things and how how certain products are made.
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Personality Sketch – Silver screen scr een celebrities, celebrities, political figures, athletes, athletes, beauty titlist, t itlist, these are the popular choices for personality sketch. As we all know people are interested in people, so much so, articles written about them, especially about their private lives, lives, and secrets secr ets are much sought after and read r ead by their fans.
6. Personal Experience – This tell tell of some unusual true – to life lif e experiences experiences written in the first person account. 7. Humorous Feature – The primary objective of feature stories stories is too enter enter tain and and what is more fitting fit ting than making people laugh and be relieve relieve of the stress of life while while reading your article.
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Interpretative Feature – This feature helps the reader r eader understand the background and significance of social, economic, political and other problems of everyday life.
9.Seasonal 9. Seasonal or Holiday Holiday Feature Featur e – Subject are events celebrated once a year. one’s s travel 10.Travelogue – An account of one’ 10.Travelogue experience exp erience and a vivid description of places visited
