Читать книгу Feature Writing and Reporting - Jennifer Brannock Cox - Страница 44

Spot news typically involves elements of immediacy and is written using the inverted pyramid method, in which a news story is organized by putting the most important information at the top and working through to end with the least important information. In these stories, prominence and timeliness are prized values, as they often involve breaking news from official sources that may or may not affect readers directly. A typical hard news story might involve a car crash on the highway that is backing up traffic. It is immediate; it will likely involve police sources, who are prominent decision-makers in the community; and it will affect some people directly (those stuck in traffic or the family of those involved) and others not at all. Sometimes the fact that someone is well-known makes all the difference. Although it is rarely newsworthy when an average citizen purchases a pet, national news outlets consider it breaking news whenever a U.S. president does so. In fact, journalists are so used to covering this type of news that CNN and several other news organizations published stories in 2017 citing President Donald Trump’s departure from the norm when he did not bring a pet into the Oval Office during the first six months of his term.¹

There are two types of feature stories. Soft news stories are aimed at entertaining or informing readers, typically without any urgency. Coverage of a community concert or a new-business profile on a local ice cream shop would belong in this category. Be careful when reporting soft news to avoid producing puff pieces—stories that simply offer praise or exaggerate the greatness of a person, group or organization and avoid any analysis or examination of their shortcomings.

There are also news features, which tend to be longer, in-depth stories detailing the background and impact of an issue and the people affected by it. News features go beyond the basic who, what, when and where questions prioritized in spot news coverage and focus more on why and how.

Good feature stories do not just report what happened—they take deeper dives into the reasons news events occur and what they might mean in a larger sense. They often emphasize different news values: proximity, human interest, helpfulness and novelty/oddity. Feature stories frequently reflect proximity, with reporters covering news events that affect people within their coverage area. For example, a feature story might focus on a local fundraiser benefiting a group or person in the community. Instead of simply reporting on the basic facts—where it will be held, who is involved, when it is taking place—a good feature story will explore why the fundraiser is necessary, how it got started and its significance to the community. In this way, feature stories often involve elements of human interest. Feature writers need to try to get their readers beyond the basic facts, which are organized easily at the top of spot news stories.

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A feature story should help readers relate personally to the sources and issues involved, reflecting the human interest news value. At The (Toronto) Star, social justice reporter Laurie Monsebraaten focuses her stories about policy and data around humans.² For instance, she told the story of a 22-year-old man with disabilities whose single mother was no longer eligible for child support payments from the man’s father:

Joshua Coates is a polite and friendly 21-year-old who reads and writes at the Grade 2 level. He has trouble paying attention, suffers from anxiety and obsessive compulsive behaviour and “will require the care and supervision of others throughout his life,” according to his doctor.

Joshua was born with Di George Syndrome, a genetic abnormality that causes multiple medical and psychiatric problems that his doctor says are “chronic, severe and debilitating.”

He is also at the heart of a constitutional challenge launched by his mother in a bid to have his biological father continue to support him.

—LAURIE MONSEBRAATEN, The (Toronto) Star³

Monsebraaten’s use of the family in her story resonated with readers, and her work prompted supporters to introduce an amendment changing the law to allow adult children with disabilities to receive support.

Many feature articles can also be considered enterprise stories. Enterprise stories are those not based on a press release or scheduled event; they involve more in-depth issues reporters find or conceptualize on their own. These stories sometimes include the helpfulness and oddity/novelty news values. For example, a profile on the first female CEO at a company would reflect the novelty news value, as her appointment is a first for the organization. Helpfulness stories can also add value to content already being circulated online by helping readers think about news events in a broader way. For instance, a breaking news story about a deadly flu outbreak could lead to a how-to story detailing local doctors’ suggestions for staying healthy.

Feature stories without a specific time peg are called evergreens because they flourish all year round—meaning they can run anytime. Evergreens are beneficial for news organizations in that they can make a story timeless, which is particularly important in the Digital Age because stories can resurface repeatedly over time and gain new audiences on social media. For example, a feature about a new baseball pitcher with a great curve ball will be relevant only as long as that pitcher is new and interesting. But an evergreen story about how to throw a curve ball could circulate indefinitely, gaining new audiences over the years and enjoying a prolonged life online.

Popular feature stories include topics that people care about and interact with regularly, including relationships, pets, health and wellness, sports, the environment and technology. According to Google, the top 10 trending news stories of 2017 included April the giraffe giving birth at Upstate New York’s Animal Adventure Park, the popularity of the virtual currency Bitcoin and the first solar eclipse to cross the entire country in 99 years. These stories are timely in the moment, but they also resonate with readers long after the initial news event is over.