Planning a News Feature
A news feature is a long story about an event, person, place or issue. It’s a great opportunity to give your listeners/viewers an inside view of something they might not know much about. This is often done through interviews and using other information sources.
There’s a lot to consider in making a news feature including your choice of topic, your choice of talent and how you produce the piece – the treatment. The topic may seem obvious – for example a plane crash – but there will be a number of different angles and issues you could explore. The fact that a baby survived the crash, for example, is one angle, but so are questions about the airline’s safety record or how the rescue operation went.
If you’re planning a news feature which involves travelling abroad, or working within restricted areas you need to make contingency plans for getting permissions and access. You might need to hire a ‘fixer’ or an interpreter. You should also decide how vital it is to have audio from the people you interview. If someone can’t or won’t talk to you for whatever reason you will need to plan alternative ways of presenting their story – for example, with narration.
You should try to finish your news feature well before the on-air deadline. This will give you time to play it back and add the extra finishing touches which can transform a good news feature into a really outstanding one.
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