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.
What are the differences between a news story and a feature?
- Time factor – this is one of the major differences between a news story and a feature. A news story is time-dependent. There is always the need for new stories to be written as quickly as possible after an event occurs. Feature stories, however are not as time-dependent as news stories. Let us take a look at an example. For instance, if the sitting President of a country suddenly suffers from a heart attack and is flown to a hospital, the news should be reported instantly – maybe within minutes or seconds. So you see that news stories are heavily time-dependent. Features on the other hand are not as time-dependent as news stories. For example, a story talking about the life of the oldest man in the world is not time sensitive and since it contains no urgent content it can be written within several weeks or months.
- Writing style – the writing styles between a news story and a feature differ a little bit. 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.
- 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. They tell what the news is about and tell all the most important details about the news.
- 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. The feature ending is more like a reward to the reader.
Source: Journalism Lectures 2013.
