The news feature is a chance to put the current issues of the day into perspective, to relate them to a wider social and historical context. It is also a chance to tell the good news stories as well as the bad ones. There is more scope in a news feature than in a hard news story for your writing style to show through, but never let your literary skills overwhelm the content of the piece.
Often the news angle is just one of many angles in a feature and sometimes it even disappears, allowing you to delve deeper into the subject. For example, the story of the baby survivor may lead you to discuss other aspects of the disaster – airline safety, crash investigation, passenger compensation etc.
If you are the narrator, it is worth remembering that not everyone will tune in to listen to your narration unless they are particularly interested in the subject. In fact, most of the time a radio or television news feature is narrated it is not because the information in the piece needs to be heard by the listener or viewer but because the narrator has an interest in the subject and wants to share that with the audience.
If you have been asked to produce a news feature for a particular program, check how long the piece should be and listen to previous broadcasts to get a feel for the overall tone and format of the show. Also think about studio and editing suite availability.
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