2. A news story is about an event that is happening or has
recently happened that is of interest or importance to a
reader.
A good example of a news story is the story of an
earthquake striking the center of a city or the sudden death of
a country’s President.
News stories are framed around the 5 W’s and H (Who,
What, Where, When, Why, and How).
Feature stories are meant to inform and entertain the
readers.
Feature stories can also be said to be the story behind the
news story.
An example of a feature story is the story of an immigrant
winning the lottery.
In writing a feature story, writers let their imaginations to flow
around the facts because feature stories are more creative
in structure.
3. TYPES OF LEAD
News Summary Lead
This is similar to the lead in a news story and
should ideally embody the five the five Ws- Who,
What, Where, When and Why.
Short Sentence Lead
This consists of a single striking sentence.
eg: Life is an abnormal business.
4. Quotation Lead
The saying of a renowned person, poet or leader
may ne taken a lead.
Eg: East is East and West is West.
Question Lead:
Sometime a question may provide a feature with
attractive lead.
5. Contrast Lead:
Conflict and Contrast may a times provide a feature
with lead which may bring forth the controversial
nature of the feature.
Picture Lead:
This gives a vivid description of the setting of the
feature or evokes a mood or feeling.
Humorous Lead:
A humorous lead sets the tone of a feature perfectly
for the reader.
6. DIFFERENT TYPES OF FEATURES
Human interest feature: The human touch is
perhaps the most vital quality in the feature.
Personal narratives: The stories of eminent men
and women are worth telling. Feature can be
written on their life and work, their achievement
and their unique contribution.
Historical features: These are about persons in
the history books or about historical places.
Science Feature: Feature to popularize science by
explaining g a scientific development in a simple
language.
7. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A NEWS STORY AND
A FEATURE
Time factor –A news story is time-dependent.
Feature stories, however are not as time-
dependent as news stories.
Writing style –News stories go straight to the point.
News stories use simple and very effective
words to deliver the facts quickly. But feature
stories have a creative structure. They are colorful
and flowery.
The length – a news story is shorter than a feature
story. A news story can vary from just a couple of
sentences to about 600 words, but a feature story
can be longer than 2000 words – especially in
magazines.
8. The lead – the lead of a feature does not give the
news instead it gets the reader interested in reading
the rest of the story. News story leads sell the story.
The ending – a news story can end anywhere after
the most important things have been mentioned,
but a feature story has to be ended in specific
manner. Features have to end in such a way that
the reader feels satisfied for having kept on
reading.
