Reporting and Writing II
News reactive features
David Randall
The Universal Journalist
Features
The truth is that trying to make distinctions
between news and features does not get us
very far. In fact, it is positively dangerous. It
produces narrow thinking which can
restrict coverage of news to conventional
subjects and puts writing it into the
unimaginative straitjacket of a formula.
With features, it encourages the insidious
idea that normal standards of precision and
thorough research don’t apply and that they
can be a kind of low-fact product, instantly
recognisable from their lack of capital
letters.”
Colour piece
Backgrounder
Profile
Interview
Timeline
Voxpop
A pure description of a place, time or event often using
some minor detail to symbolise the wider story.
Behind the scenes pieces describe how something
works, or the themes behind an issue or debate.
A study of a person, business or organisation at the
centre of a story.
Can either be arranged as a story or in a Q&A format but the key to either is good quotes.
“The story so far” –useful in long-running issues. Often
written in brief, punchy language.
A collection of short, verbatim reactions from people
who are relevant to the story
News-reactive features
Colour piece
Backgrounder
Profile
Interview
Timeline
Voxpop
A description of the countryside, estuary and nature
reserve that might soon be shattered by turbine
engines.
A look at the debate over why a new airport is needed,
and the suggestions for where it could go.
Lord Foster –the architect.
Boris Johnson –a Q&A about why peaceful Kent is the
best place for his noisy London airport…
Key dates, from the announcement of the airport plan
to the latest development.
What do people in Medway think?
E.g. Boris Island
Can be based on
statistics, surveys,
crimes, debates,
wars, famines,
droughts, events or
trends…
Features
But the best
features are
always about
people.
Killers on the loose: the deadly
viruses that threaten human survival
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/sep/28/deadly-viruses-ebola-marburg-sars?INTCMP=SRCH
The Guardian, September 28
Astrid Joostenwas a 41-year-old Dutch woman who, in June 2008, went
to Uganda with her husband. At home in Noord-Brabant, she workedas a
business analyst. Both she and her husband, JaapTaal, afinancial
manager, enjoyed annual adventures, especially toAfrica. The journey in
2008, booked through an adventure-travel outfitter, took them to the
BwindiImpenetrable Forest, home to mountain gorillas. While there, the
operators offered an optional trip, to a place called the Maramagambo
Forest, where the chief attraction was a peculiar site known as Python
Cave. African rock pythons lived there, languid and content, grown large
and fat on a diet of bats.
Killers on the loose - intro
In paragraph 4 the bat-carried virus Marburg is first named, but the case
study continues…
After afew days she began suffering organ failure. Herdoctors
suspectedLassa feverand moved her to a hospital in Leiden, where she
developed arash and conjunctivitis; she haemorrhaged. Shewas put into
an induced coma, a move dictated by the need to dose her more
aggressively with antiviral medicine. […] Blood samples, sent to a lab in
Hamburg, confirmed thediagnosis: Marburg. Astrid worsened. As
herorgans shut down, she lacked oxygen to thebrain, suffered cerebral
oedema, and beforelong she was declared brain-dead. "Theykept
heralive for afew more hours, untilthe family arrived," Taaltold me.
"Then they pulled out theplug and she died within afew minutes."
Killers on the loose
After 609 words of case study we get a more basic “intro” to the issue
Infectious disease is all around us. It's one of the basic processes that
ecologists study, along with predation and competition. Predators are big
beasts that eat their prey from outside. Pathogens (disease-causing
agents, such as viruses) are small beasts that eat their prey from within.
Although infectious disease can seem grisly and dreadful, under ordinary
conditions, it's every bit as natural as what lions do to wildebeests and
zebras.
Killers on the loose
Standfirst
Drop
intro
Case
study
Narrative
One-liner
Joke
In features, the intro can be a combination of style. The case study, written in
a narrative form, creates the same tension as the first line of a traditional
drop intro.
Intro styles
Intro
Extended drop intro/ case study
434 words. Source: Alicia
Duerson, narrative style.
Main #1
818 words, source: Dr Ann
McKee and the journalist (deals
with the “science bit” in one large
chunk). Heavy on detail but light
on quotes. Uses them in the last
three pars very effectively.
The Guardian
Main #2
871 words, source: Alicia
Duerson. Returns to theme of
the opening, with heavy use of
quotes to convey emotion.
Allows her to tell her husband’s
story.
Conclusion
Both sources used. Summarises
Dr Ann McKee’s findings with
selective use of quotes. Ends on
powerful quote from Duerson.
The Guardian
Award
This story won the WellcomeTrust Science Writing
Prize 2012.
They praised how he wove together three strands of
the story:
The celebrity
Dave Duerson emotion
The scientist
Dr Ann McKee fact
The journalist Ed Pilkington
impressions
The interview with McKee would have been technical
and hard to quote –Pilkington uses his impressions of
the brain bank as a cipher, to make that part of the
story easier to tell and more compelling to read.
How the feature was written
Standfirst
Intro
Main #1
Main #2
End
The indirect start is offset by a standfirstthat reveals
Duersonkilled himself and that his brain was donated.
Establishes Duerson’scelebrity and his fall, ends on a
cliffhanger
Explains, in clear terms, the science behind Duerson’s
condition
Returns to Duerson’sstory in more detail –but now we
are armed with a better understanding of what’s
happening to him and why, and the tragic
consequences for him and his family.
After drawing Duersonspersonal conclusion, the story
returns to the brain bank to fill in the wider picture.
How the feature was written
Intro
1,119 words. Flashback
narrative –very extended drop
intro style. Source: case study of
Kyle Turley, NFL player.
Intro #2
726 words. Introduces dog
fighting –heavy use of narrative
description.
The New Yorker
Main #1
2,086 words. Dr Ann McKee and
BennetOmalu–like the
Guardian article, the science is
heavily paraphrased. Quotes
used for anecdote, not technical
details.
Main #2
2,335 words. More scientists,
again mostly paraphrased and
widening out to Nascarracing.
The New Yorker
Main #3
1,405 words. Dog sanctuary,
more on dog fighting and
anecdotes from football players.
Official response from NFL.
Conclusion
179 words. Uses old article on
dog fighting to draw parallel
with conditions for pro
footballers. The two threads of
the story meet elegantly at the
end.
The New Yorker
Sources
There are at least 15 named sources in this story, with
evidence of more used for background details:
Roger Goodell(NFL), Ira Casson(NFL), Dr Ann McKee
(brain bank), BennetOmalu(head injury expert),
Nascar(official stats), NFL (offficialstats), Kevin
Guskiewicz(concussion), Ann Alums (sanctuary),
Dog fighting journal article, Carl Semenic(dog fighting
book), Karl Turley (NFL player), Chris Nowinski(NFL
player), archives (including quotes from President
Theodore Roosevelt and historian John Sayle
Watterson)
How it was written
Standfirst
Intro
Body
End
Even more direct: “How different are dogfighting and
football?”
Establishes celebrity and intrigue, with the sudden ill
health of a fit, young man. A compelling case study.
Scientists interviewed in depth but most details are
explained in reported speech not quotes, to ensure it
remains accessible to the reader.
Sports players etc. are allowed to tell their stories in
extended sections of quotes.
Brings together the various strands of the story in one
well-found quote.
How it was written
Full of facts
People, not
things
Quote choice
Features are creative, but they are also based on finely
detailed reporting. Never write long passages off the
top of your head.
Find ways to make your stories about people –build
them around case studies and interviews, and bring
people to life with as much detail as you can. Fill your
notebook with observations as well as quotes.
Prioritise quotes from people that your readers will
relate to, and who use normal, emotive language.
Nothing will kill your feature faster than robotic quotes.
Feature writing tips
Music piracy
Musicmetric, an internet analyst company, has
published a survey of BitTorrentuse in the UK over the
first six months of 2012.
In plain language, it is the charts for illegal downloads.
You have figures by country, and UK figures broken
down to specific towns.
Writing a feature
Angles
Number one with a bullet in the UK is Ed Sheeran
You have spoken to him and Dave Grohlwhile covering
a music festival.
Other celebrities have campaigned for tougher laws
on piracy (including Lily Allen, James Blunt and Taio
Cruz) –background?
This week Japan brought in new laws which make
piracy punishable by two years in prison or a £15,000
fine (two million yen).
Local angles: figures for each town, plus what artists
are popular where? (Bizarre ones: Neil Sadakain a
Scottish town)
Music feature
Deadline
1,000 words plus a good standfirstby 5pm Friday
It can be one long story, or you can use sidebars or
factfilesto split information up.
Give me two good picture ideas to support the feature.
You will be working on this during the Friday session
But not Thursday –Ron’s taking you for that one
Music feature