After going back over some of the points that were made in last weeks lecture, and coming to the conclusion that for the most part News is about bad things happening to people (as in, not just "things"), we moved on to start studying into Feature Writing.
Almost all of the rules, practices and theories that are used in writing the news which you shouldn't do in the news (i.e. The kinds of writing that is bad for news) are good for features writing. As an example, when conducting interviews for features you would want to get them talking and keep them talking to get as much as possible. The general term for Features writing is "Long Form" Journalism, whereas "Short Form" normally applies to news stories. These Long Form styles include such things as documentaries and factual television, magazine features and online website features. However they cannot be anything like fiction, as it can then no longer be considered news or news worthy.
"Editorials" are are the leading articles of the medium, and are the main inside parts of the publication. Professional features writing consists of going with the format and not with the subject matter. This basically means that when you are doing a featured article, you normally write in accordance with the format of the publication first and then focus on the subject at hand second. However, considering that there are different genres to write for, you should normally write in accordance with the format of the type of feature you're writing.
Featured articles are what normally give the personality to the publication. As such, they are highly important for speaking towards and accessing the demographic of the publication. They set the tone of the paper, magazine or whatever other medium it is you are writing for, and therefore the publication is very much defined by its features. For instance, its likely that The Daily Mail will have featured articles mostly written by C1 class Females writing articles about subjects that other C1 class females would want to read. The same can be said for The Sun, as it is mostly read by C1-D class males, and it therefore written as such.
There are generally two different types (not genres) of features: Editorials and Advertising. Editorials are generally what has already been described, whereas Advertising features will focus more on actual retail products and be be written in a way that appeals to the readers of that medium.
The terms "digesis" and "mimesis" are used a lot in reference to features writing as well. The definition of "digesis" is the direct delivery of the information first and foremost, as is mostly used in the news. "Mimesis" uses a lot more drop-intros in the style of writing, and are normally used for capturing audiences attention at the start and doing its best to hold it through to the end of the article. Films would normally count as a form of "mimesis" as they give the information out slower and in an almost "drip-fed" way to the audience.
Unlike the news, features are completely production-led. For instance, features as they would appear on TV would be such shows as Jonathon Ross, or even Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio. The reason that they are production-led is because they have a strict format to each of them, and normally have a specific run time that they use as well. These kinds of features are formatted in such a way that people are normally more interested in them for the format rather than the content. By this, an example would be that people would watch Jonathon Ross because they enjoy watching the personality of Jonathon Ross, and it doesn't matter quite as much who his guests are because the show centers mostly around him, since its obviously his name in the title!
There are different styles in which features can be written, from Q&A's to essay-length exposés. Pictures are also very essential to features, and in some cases features can even be completely picture-led in their content.
The different types of features that normally occur are:
--> Confessional Interviews - "My True Story..."
--> Featured Interview - These can be done in different styles ranging from the "Gonzo" style of writing (which means being 'part' of the action that is happening), to 'Someone' Meets 'Someone', which is normally more about the interviewer rather than the profile.
--> Profile - purely facts and information about the subject (normally a person or important figure) and very little else.
--> Review - What is it? Is it any good? etc.
-->Investigation - In this instance, the story is initiated by the journalists and not by any means of news story.
--> Observational - The most typical description is "fly-on-the-wall", kind of like "Gonzo" style but you are not part of the subject. As well as this, there is no Mimesis or Digesis.
--> Reader Response - Typically known as the Letters Column, this encourages interactivity and gets the audience contributing towards the press.
There are many ways in which Features are hugely different from News writing, but the key differences are the ones that I have listed below:
NEWS FEATURES
Telling the information A lot more visual
Swift Delivery Very detailed in its information
General Audiences Normally applies to a niché audience
Length varies on importance Length is according to Structure
House style of delivery Various styles and generic types.
So to finalise, feature writing is essentially an entire world apart from writing the news, as there is a lot more space for creativity, imaginitive structuring (as opposed to one specific delivery of information) and generally offers a lot more insight into subjects when compared to the regular kinds of news stories.
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