Feature Writing and Reporting. Jennifer Brannock Cox
exotic animal training. The column was filled with anecdotes, advice and a blend of humor and personal reflection. And although the story was not actually about a beloved killer whale, readers regularly clicked on the story because it appealed to their cravings—self-improvement and animals. The result: It was the most emailed story of 2006 for The New York Times, beating out coverage of the execution of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and other important news events.
One of several iterations of Sea World’s popular killer whale, Shamu, performing for fans.
Pixabay/@nightowl
Feature reporters have to be descriptive, a useful tool in opinion writing. First-person stories should engage readers’ senses. Using similes and metaphors can help readers without knowledge of the topic put your experience into perspective. For example, instead of describing something as “thick” or “heavy,” consider relating the texture to your experience with it: “The water was viscous, like paddling through a vat of honey.”
When writing a column or first-person article, reporters need to establish a clear point and carry the reader from start to finish without veering in different directions. Opinion writers also need a strong voice—a personal style of writing that conveys the reporter’s character. Times Union (Albany, New York) reporter Betsy Bitner uses humor—with a dash of self-deprecation—and vivid imagery to tell stories through her columns, as illustrated in this excerpt about retail discount cards:
There are all sorts of things you can collect without even trying, like junk mail, dust and phobias. Me, I collect those little plastic cards that stores give out that you put on your key chain. They’re called customer loyalty or rewards cards and I never turn one down when it’s offered. I guess I have a hard time saying no (although my husband might dispute that claim).
There are advantages to carrying around a couple of pounds of customer loyalty cards. For one thing, I never lose my car keys because it’s hard to misplace something with a mass large enough to influence the tides. And they add enough weight to my purse that it qualifies as a lethal weapon. It would be nice if at least one of the cards was for a discounted chiropractic adjustment.9
Opinion columns often follow a similar pattern that can serve as an outline for you:
Introduction: Make a bold statement about your topic.
Exposition: Explain your previous feelings or experiences with the topic, providing relevant background information to help readers understand where you are coming from.
Description: Give a highly visual play-by-play to keep the reader engrossed in the story.
Closing: Reflect on what you have learned and how you feel about the topic now.
Readers often enjoy stories from people who are pushed out of their “comfort zone.” Consider practicing your opinion writing with a barrier-breaker column. Choose something you have not done before or want to do in a different way. Try it, and take the reader along for the experience through your writing.
Digital Age Features
In the Digital Age, journalists are encouraged to tell stories in innovative, audience-centric ways. Beyond the story types outlined above, new feature story formats have emerged, reflecting changes in both structure and purpose.
Alternative Storytelling Forms
Readers do not always have the time or the inclination to read a full feature story. Journalists can still convey interesting and useful information using alternative story forms—short, descriptive features that stand alone to tell a story without the accompaniment of a traditional written article.10 They provide readers an intriguing break from monotonous articles, and they can sometimes better help readers understand a complicated issue by making it more visual or interactive.
The most common alternative story forms in print and online publications tend to be stand-alone photos or photo galleries and graphics. The investigative news site ProPublica created an interactive feature mapping the route of a private garbage truck driver through the streets of New York City. The graphic consists of a map of the city’s largest neighborhoods. When the reader clicks the play button, the map springs to life, clocking the time elapsed and miles traveled, with captions marking each of the truck driver’s stops as they are charted across the map. The interactivity of the map allows readers to truly understand the long distances and dangerous conditions drivers face as they traverse the city. Throughout the journey, pop-up captions detail the struggles drivers face, offer quotes from the drivers and provide impactful numbers demonstrating their work efforts.11
ProPublica’s interactive graphic demonstrating garbage truck routes through the streets of New York City.
ProPublica, “One Night on a Private Garbage Truck in New York City,” by Al Shaw and Kiera Feldman.
Alternative story forms are limited only by journalists’ imaginations. Other common examples include:
Breakout boxes: These are short boxes containing tidbits of information that may be helpful to the reader. Examples include a glossary to help readers understand new terms or jargon related to a topic; follow-up boxes detailing what is known, what is new and what is next; takeaways providing bulleted highlights from a meeting or event; and boxes using numbers to provide information,12 as in this example shown in Figure 2.8.
Figure 2.8 A sample breakout box that could run alongside a traditional news story on the same topic.
Source: http://www.seaturtle.org/
Q & A: Question and Answer features provide a transcript of an interview with a source, showing your questions and your source’s direct answers.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions features list quick answers to popular questions readers might have on a subject. For example, in preparation for a state fair, readers may ask about the cost, dates, what rides are included, what performers are playing and so forth.
Reader polls: These may include a short introductory graf educating readers on an issue before asking them to engage by voting with their opinion and/or leaving comments.
Charts: Charts provide a simple visual reference to help readers process data and numbers quickly. In one example from The News & Advance in Lynchburg, Virginia, reporter Shawn Garrett shows how lottery sales in the area compare with others in the state. The arrangement of the rankings within the map, separated by counties, provides a powerful illustration the audience can quickly understand. Readers can also easily see the dramatic disparity between Lynchburg proper and its surrounding counties.13
Games: Some news organizations urge readers to process information using games, such as news quizzes. StudentNewsDaily.com is a nonprofit current events website for high school students. One of the online publication’s features is a weekly news quiz, testing students on their retention of information from the week’s events.
This chart from The News & Advance in Lynchburg, Virginia, is a visually appealing representation of the distribution of lottery sales in the area compared with others across the state.
The News & Advance, “Playing the Lottery in Central Virginia,” by Shawn Garrett.
We will cover more alternative story forms using mobile apps in Chapter 11.
Anticipating