Hall School of Journalism and Communication JRN 2201 Reporting Dr. Steven Padgett Hall School of Journalism and Communication Troy University Class Notes V

The topics this week are: Features Brites

Features are written to entertain or inform. What is a Feature? Features are written to entertain or inform. The personalities often carry the story.

What is a Brite? A brite is a short, humorous story included to bring a smile after the usual collection of crime, murder, tragedies and mayhem found in the normal news-hole.

The Feature? “The news writer tells you the bridge fell in and how many cars fell off. The feature writer tells you what it was like to have been there.” – Jules Loh Events have human dimensions. The feature story capitalized on this. Features assume the greatest story is how we live, and explores it.

Features Features can be somber, cheerful, quirky or absurd. Features show people doing things Let the people in your features “talk” to your readers Let the action and dialogue carry the story Underwrite features, don’t overwrite

Features Keep the piece moving. Tell the reader what you’re writing about high up in the story. Distribute background throughout the story.

Techniques for Features Quotes. Let the characters carry the action with their own words. Quotes help to establish a mood or setting for your story.

Tone and Style of Features Established by: Facts Quotes Illustrations Word choice Sentence length Paragraph length

Tone and Style of Features Tone and style is dictated by the content of your story One tone should dominate throughout the feature.

Pitfalls of Features Know what you’re going to say, and how, before you start writing. Develop enthusiasm for your story. Establish a good plot. The central idea should have: Drama, Conflict, Excitement and Emotion Don’t tell us what you can show us people doing or saying

More Pitfalls of Features Avoid first person. You may be your favorite subject, but you are not writing for you! Don’t overwrite Symptom of not trusting your material Flowery prose never replaces reporting Don’t over report Don’t get bogged down in detail

Brites Brites are “feel good” super-short features. Brites end in an up-beat tone. Brites usually contain some element of humor.

Humor in your stories? It is extremely rare when humor fits in hard news stories. Humor, irony and even parody have their place in feature writing. When using humor, the context and writing style must leave the reader with no doubt that humor is intended and the words are not to be taken literally.

Irony and Parody in Brites Care must be taken when writing bites so that irony and/or parody cannot be taken literally. Never forget that humor can backfire!

What is humor? Great question! What is funny to one person may not be funny to another.

Writing Humor Writing humor is hard work. Humor uses: Surprise Comedic Timing Very little logic Oddity

Humor Tips When writing humor: Don’t overanalyze: analysis of what makes something funny can kill it. Simple is almost always better than complex: If a humorous remark isn’t working, try simplifying the presentation or language Short is almost always better than long: the best humor is concise and direct. Don’t try to hard to be funny. That makes your humor feel stilted.

More about humor Don’t sacrifice truth for a funny effect. Fiction is not tolerated on the pages of newspapers. Don’t violate the trust and credibility of your newspaper for a cheap laugh.

Brites Brites are short. Usually 100-250 words Allow the writer to show more personality than standard news stories. Similar to “kicker” stories on television and radio

Are there any questions? Additional questions? Are there any questions?

There will be more next time! The End