One of the main slogans surrounding features is 'people come for the news but stay for the features'.
A feature can be defined as all the editorial matter whether that be in a newspaper, magazine, TV or radio schedule which is factual but not news, in the sense that it has not happened immediately.
Products such as monthly magazines which are not in a position to print news must consist entirely of feature material where as newspapers which get breaking stories by electronic media have a mixture of news and features. The same is true of scheduled or formatted news shows on radio and TV such as; The Today programme, News Night and Channel 4 news which mix genuine news stories with mini features to fill out scheduled lengths.
The main aim for a feature is to tempt people to stay on the publications web pages for longer, using barkers as hooks, they add bulk and are driven by headlines. Many make the mistake of thinking a feature is just a feature and that they are all generally the same however as a journalist we have established that there are different formats that features fall in to. You would not approach an editor and say "I have an idea for a feature" as this is not informative or precise enough, you need to say what format and what style you are planning on writing this idea in.
There are several formats;
- A Confessional interview: written in the first person. The interviewee will tell their story, usually something hard hitting and dramatic.
- Consumer Reviews: The writer reviews products.
- Pictures/Fashion: This is photo led.
- Comment: All opinion, a debate is usually the best format for this.
- Feature interview: An interview with someone where you want to hear their views.
- Documentary: A video documenting an event.
- News Feature: To find a 'peg' (a link to a news story) followed by comment about it. Usually you see these as a bunch of 'clippings' or a wrap up.
- Profiles: People mix these up with a 'feature interview' only with profiles there is no interview. A profile is like a CV, it contains no comment from the person, only facts about them. It is like a living obituary for a person.
- Arts Review: Reviewing films, theatre productions and art exhibitions.
- Investigations: Where the journalist initiates the stories - it is not a scheduled news event like court/parliament.
- Observational: Gonzo journalism similar to that of Tom Wolfe and Louis Theroux.
- Response.
Features are important as they set the tone. Basically news is news, particularly when there is a clear breaking news story and there is little choice for the consumer to choose between one title and another.
'Differentiation' is achieved by feature material, for all these reasons the feature content found in newspapers has increased in recent years, it is a process of 'featurisation'. Newspapers are increasing their content by including daily magazines found within the paper that are aimed at specific markets, editors know that readers will have already got the 'hard breaking' news from the BBC the previous evening so that alone wont sell the paper the following morning.
Broadsheet newspapers, in particular now run 'feature puffs' which are adverts for articles above the title. When folded in the newsagents these 'puffs' are what potential purchases will see.
News VS Features;
News is;
- 'Telling' the facts.
- A brief summary.
- Aimed at a whole audience - effecting the most possible audience members.
- Length varies depending on importance.
- Defined styles.
- Published instantly.
But features;
- Seeing and showing.
- Lengthy and detailed. Especially in comment or reviews, however the picture is primarily the most important factor as the words are there to separate the pictures - especially typical of fashion magazines.
- Aimed at niche sections of readership.
- Low writing status on fashion magazines as they are all photo led.
- Length is fixed by editorial structure.
- Many different and varied styles.
- Published according to schedule.
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