FEATURE ASSIGNMENTS
FEATURE ONE Due: MONDAY, OCT. 31 at 1 p.m.
FEATURE TWO Due: MONDAY, NOV. 21 at 1 p.m. (MUST BE
COLLABORATIVE IN SOME WAY)
For your third and fourth major papers for this class, please research, report, and
write a profile of a person, team, organization, or company on your beat OR a story about
a major issue of your specialty/beat. These could stem from the other assignments you
have done, but they do not have to. Be careful about what you select so that you will have
something meaningful to write on. Do not pick a topic area that is too broad. This will be
an exercise in focusing as much as in writing about an issue or profile subject. Do not
pick a group or person simply because they are cool or are doing good works. Your
biggest challenge here is to make sure this is not a fluffy public relations piece. Every
detail, every piece of dialogue you put into that story should go to your point. Think
about how you want to structure the story before you write it. There needs to be tension.
Think complication/resolution. Think substance. Think challenges. Choose according to
what interests you. Do some research on it. If you do a profile for the first piece, you
should plan to do an issue story for the next one.
The second piece must be done as a team of two. By collaboration, I mean that you need
to find a partner and work with that person. You may decide to do one story by both of
you OR you may decide you each want to write your own story (in which case you both
are to put both your bylines on it). If you do two pieces, they should be done as a
package, so that you can market them as such. If you do one piece, it should have 6-8
sources and be 2500ish words.
These are the minimum requirements for your story:
 There MUST be at least four (4) sources in your story (unless doing a
collaborative piece). For example, one source will be the subject of the profile (this
means that if you are profiling a company or an organization, you cannot count the
director and the assistant director as TWO sources. Instead I would consider them
ONE source, because they are speaking from one perspective – unless, of course the
whole point of your story is dissension among the organization, in which case come
talk to me). Other sources would be: someone affected by the person or group, peers
of the person or group (i.e. other professors or other trade people), fans of the person
or group, and people who know the person or group extremely well.
 There MUST be quotes in your story.
 There MUST be at least two ideas for art and/or multimedia to correlate with your
story: photos? Graphic possibilities? Information Boxes? Video? Audio? What
would best fit? (Note that you do not need the actual art.)
 There MUST be a so-called Web summary at the top of your story (separate from
the story, though). This should be one or two sentences that an editor could use to
promote your story on the Web.
 Your story MUST be written in journalistic fashion.
 It MUST be true.
 It MUST be current, meaning there needs to be a news hook for your story.
 You cannot write about something you are part of, nor can you write about your
friends.
 You must list the sources and phone numbers at the bottom of the article. I will be
selecting papers randomly to fact check.
 You cannot use FIRST PERSON (I, we, us, me). Use of the first person means an
automatic F.
 You MUST spell all names correctly throughout the piece. Failure to do so results
in an automatic F.
These are the minimum requirements, and failure to meet any one of them will
severely affect your grade, and you may not be allowed to rewrite it. I do not hesitate to
give you a failing grade if you have not met these minimum requirements.
Fair Warning: I reserve the right to call your sources to fact check your story. If
I cannot find someone in your story, I will ask you to produce the person, so be
prepared for that possibility.
Your story should be about 1,000-1,500 words (2,500ish if writing one story as a
team), or about 3-5 pages double- spaced. (This is just a guide.) Remember what you
have learned thus far. AP style will count, as will grammar. Think about your lead, your
nutgraf, your story structure. You should write it thinking that it is going to be published
in a newspaper.
Most of all, have fun!!!
DON’T FORGET: ALL PAPERS DUE BY 1 PM
(I drop your grade one letter every day your paper is later; I refuse the paper
completely after 4 days)
Rewriting: I will generally accept rewrites of your story assignments at any time during
the semester. I will only accept one rewrite a week. The rewrite must be significant,
incorporating my suggestions as well as your own editing. I consider the rewrite along
with the original and give you a new grade to replace the original. I reserve the right to
reject a rewrite when the minimum requirements had not been met in the original paper.
All of your original and rewritten stories with my comments should go into your portfolio
at the end of this class. I will grade the entire portfolio, which will count for 80 percent of
your grade in this class. You will never receive a grade on a rewrite that is lower than the
original.