A news feature is an article that goes into more depth about a particular aspect of current affairs or events. A typical news feature will involve a mix of spoken word (often interviews) and visuals such as photographs or video.
You need to know your audience before you can make a news feature that will interest them enough to tune in, keep them listening and inspire them to remember it and talk about it – especially to other people. In the case of radio or television, you will probably only learn whether your news feature worked by seeing audience survey figures and feedback – but that might be weeks or even months after broadcast.
To hold listener attention, your news feature must follow the old journalist’s adage “show don’t tell”. It’s often easier for listeners to understand and relate to a description of what someone was feeling rather than hearing their own voice being read out.
Similarly, to evoke the listener’s empathy, your copy needs to contain as many personal words as possible – for example, “you,” “we” and especially words that suggest action such as “to be,” “as,” etc. The use of transitions to add, illustrate or explain a point is also important, as are interest-building devices such as “kicker” endings. Using these techniques will help ensure that your news features are as effective as possible. One of the most common complaints about newspapers is that they only ever report bad news. This can be understandable, since most things that happen suddenly and therefore qualify as news are unwelcome – such as accidents, deaths and crimes. However, good news often happens slowly and gradually – such as the terracing of hillside farmland to prevent soil erosion – and so does not qualify as news in the strict sense.