NEWS FEATURES, NEWS ANALYSIS AND BACKGROUNDERS

Writing new stories follows two major principles- facts and only facts can be given, and the inverted pyramid structure of writing is often always strictly followed.

Both these principles have helped journalism to be taken with credibility by the masses. People absorb information and facts in order of relevance and importance and then make their own opinions. These principles have withstood the tests of times and are still followed quite religiously.

But it is also true that these principles also put restrictions on the creativity of the news writers and reporters. Moreover, there is also a felt and expressed need for variety both in style and content in news presentation. In newspapers, these needs are met through different types of writings.

Three kinds of writing ups that are primarily concerned with presentation of information and facts in different manners will be discussed in this lesson. These are: News Features, News Analysis, and Backgrounders.

NEW FEATURES:

News features deal with both information and facts. Only the news features are written in a more interesting manner. In news features, the presentation may be dramatic and major information may be revealed after creating some suspense or after creating a receptive environment.

STYLE IN NEWS FEATURES:

Compared to the rigid and straightforward style of news writing, news feature writing is relaxed and informal. The people in the story become the actors and they are made to convey to the readers. Their words are used to recreate the scene in the minds of the people. The story is made to move ahead with quotes and incidents. Even dialogue can be used and actors in the news story can be presented as interacting among themselves.

Realistic dialogue fascinates the readers. Verbs that create pictures in the minds of readers are useful. In many cases present tense is used to give the reader a sense of continuing action.

In nutshell, it can be said that, for writing news features the objective is to make it interesting and readable as far as possible but without compromising on the basic premise that objectivity and balance have to be maintained. The objective still remains to inform and not to educate or persuade.

INTRO (LEAD) IN NEWS FEATURES:

In news features, the most important information is normally not given in the beginning. Delayed leads are recommended. An anecdote or incident can be the beginning. The lead has to convey urgency, something so curious or provocative that the readers will have to read the rest of the story. Possibilities for writing leads for news features are endless and each story will also have many possible leads.

The writer has to make use of his or her creative abilities to the maximum. It has been said that lead should be shouting: ‘Hey, you can’t leave me! Stop and read me!’

At the same time the lead should be in tune with the main story. If the lead promises too much and the story does not deliver, the reader feels cheated.

BODY IN NEWS FEATURES:

News features more or less follow the chronological order of story-telling. All important pieces of information are covered. These can be given in an imaginative manner using quotes, dialogue and picture making verbs.

Selection of information is the essence of a news feature. Every piece of information that is with the writer need not be given. News features may not need a conclusion, as there are possibilities that while concluding the writer’s opinion may creep into it.

The Wall Street Journal, a leading US newspaper, gives the following instructions to its journalists to write news features.

Beginning: Start with an anecdote or illustration of the theme.

Theme: Shortly after the beginning, state the main point of the piece. Don’t drop the main point much lower.

Body: Provide details that elaborate the theme. Tell the reader what ishappening, why and what’s being done about the situation.

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING NEWS FEATURES:

Here are some guidelines for writing effective news features:

o Practice the art of writing interestingly.

o Collect information from a wide variety of sources including official files, reports, archives, and interviewing and observing.

o Before beginning to work upon a news feature learn to search for the background information. This will prepare a ground for your work and in getting relevant information. Learning in advance about persons who are to be interviewed helps in asking suitable questions.

o Every news feature writer has to have very sharp and a keen ability to observe. Clothes, language, articles, persons around, mood and many things need to be taken note of to put the entire situation in a context.

o Take extensive notes. Note down even those details, which may seem to be unimportant. Journalists normally keep small notepads with them, many journalist use tape recorders.

o While seeking information formally or informally ask as many questions as possible. If the reporter fails to understand a certain point, he should not hesitate to ask for explanation.

o Write draft news feature as soon as you get the time. Delay only adds to loss of information and interest. Write another draft. Discuss with others and improve. With every rewriting the feature will improve.

o Check the facts, figures and spellings of places and persons carefully.

o Add pictures and graphics depending upon availability and suitability.

o News features are mostly about people and are always for people. Use quotations, and paraphrases in the story so that it appears that sources are communicating with the readers.

 Example-1:

One of the stories people tell about Abdul Rahim is that he handed over a terrorist to the police. He is petty shopkeeper in the suburbs of Srinagar. The terrorist he handed over to the police was his own son, Parvez. ‘When my own children do wrong, I don’t protect them. The law must be respected.”

Abdul has two sons. The younger one is visually handicapped and lives with the family, mother and two young daughters. “I would rather see Parvez behind bars than someone to call me to identify his body in a morgue”, told Abdul to the media persons.

Example-2:

Rani Munda woke yesterday morning with a headache. Last night she had gone to bed with a head full of dreams. Today, she is famous for her beauty and intelligence.

The 19-year old tribal girl from Jharkhand was crowned Miss India at the International Center in New Delhi.

“I felt terrible all day,” Rani said after her victory. “But as soon as I walked into the auditorium, something happened. Like, you know, it snapped’. The lights, the excitement of the competition, the possibility of going all the way to the top had its effect. “I just knew I could do it,” she said…

 NEW ANALYSIS:

As a matter of principle, news writing deals with the presentation of facts and arguments. Interpretation of the facts and deriving meaning out of the facts is left to the reader.

It is the practice in newspapers that every issue contains a few items/events/issues in which all the available facts are treated together and objective analysis is provided to the readers. News analyses usually have no fixed place unlike editorials.

In many newspapers the bottom of the front page carries news analyses, while in others some place in the inside pages carry the news analyses.

The task of writing the news analysis is given to experienced staffers or trusted outside experts. Traditionally, senior sub-editors or the chief-sub-editor write the news analyses. Sometimes, outside writers were also given the job.

These days the field staff like reporters, correspondents and bureau chiefs also sometimes writes news analyses.

There is clear difference between news and news analysis. In news, current facts are more important and past facts may be given only to pad the story. The news writer does not attempt the analysis.

News analysis is also different from writing articles and editorials. The editorial is mainly opinion writing and provides clear-cut opinions. Articles also contain opinions and guidelines; they may also have some component of analysis. But news analysis is not supposed to carry any opinion or prescription. It is simply objective analysis of the assorted facts about an event or issue.

Some newspapers and television news, now days, include analysis, comment and opinion in the news also. Professionally this is considered to be an aberration only. Professional journalistic values respect the wisdom of the readers and therefore provide analysis, comment and opinion in specified columns only.

 WRITING NEWS ANALYSIS:

Writing news analysis involves more work than writing news. Following steps make the task systematic and the output is better and more comprehensive.

 Selecting a Subject:

As a rule, news analysis is prepared on a topic that is current. But all topics of current value do not qualify to be the subject matter of analysis. Normally a ‘burning event’ is selected for the news analysis. It means that a news subject that has remained front-page news for more than one day would be fit to be analyzed in detail.

In addition to being current, the subject of news analysis must fascinating or interesting. It means that the subject has to be relevant to the audiences. For example, an issue, which is of much importance in UK, may not be very relevant in India.

Similarly, the subject matter for news analysis must have wide impact and many ramifications. A straight story with no angles and controversies may not render itself for detailed analysis. Suicides by the students of class ten and twelve may not be the main stories but many such incidents occurring during the examinations will be a good subject for analysis.

 GATHERING INFORMATION AND FACTS:

Since the subject of news analysis is current, much information will be easily available. But news analysis must contain facts and arguments that the reader has so far not received. Following are some of the sources for gathering such information:

o Previous issues of the newspapers

o News magazines

o Official reports and documents

o Annual reports

o The Internet

o Public personalities and specialists

ANALYZING THE INFORMATION & FINDING TRENDS:

After collecting as much information as possible on the subject, the writer of news analysis makes a deep study of the collected information. Here, the information must be looked in historical perspective, i.e., with relation to the previous months, years, decades, etc. This generally brings out certain interesting trends, which form the basis for writing the news analysis. News feature writers also try to bring out startling inter-relationships.

For example, while doing news analysis of dowry deaths a writer finds that most of the girls killed due to demand for more dowry were professionally qualified and they had resisted the demands for dowry. The analysis may bring out the trend that educated newlyweds when confronted with demands for dowry passionately put up resistance and then suffered violence. The general principle is more information and deeper analysis provides better results.

ORGANIZING THE STRUCTURE:

The writer has a mine of information, but all information cannot be presented. The writer evaluates the collected material and selects information that is both relevant and important. The selected bits of information are then arranged in order of priority.

At this stage it is always better to verify the selected information and facts from variety of sources. Only the verified information and facts must be presented. Even an insignificant error may make the entire exercise a farce in the eyes of the readers.

WRITING THE NEWS ANALYSIS:

The writer of the news analysis must follow all the basic principles of clear writing and the presentation must be precise and easily comprehensible. The writer should be familiar with the wants and tastes of the readers of the newspaper in which the analysis is to be published. The lowest denominator of the audience must be the target of the writer so that every reader above that level is able to make sense.

The news analysis must resist temptations to allow his or her comments and opinions to creep into the write-up.

It is always advisable to create one or two graphics for the news analysis. The choice is between graphs, bar diagrams, pie charts, pictures and caricatures. Depending upon the nature of the subject, and space available; decision about the illustrations and graphics has to be taken.

The scope of writing news analysis is much wider in news magazines.

Many news stories in news magazines contain an element of news analysis, but the principles remain the same. Since deadline in a news magazine is a little bit extended and space is also more (not unlimited) the skills of news analyst are better displayed in news magazines. These days the supplements of daily newspapers have also started carrying news analyses, sometimes on quite non-traditional subjects.

 BACKGROUNDERS:

Backgrounders add meaning to the events and issues in the news.

Backgrounders do this by explaining them further through background material. These write-ups bring the readers up to date explaining how, why, and when of the event and issue so far.

Backgrounders are more or less an historical presentation of the information and facts. For example, if the news of the death sentence to a killer rapist is in the news an historical account of the persons hanged in the past will be good topic for the backgrounder. During elections, background information about constituencies, political groups and contestants is very important and every newspaper publishes it.

There is clear difference between news analysis and backgrounders.

There is no or very little element of analysis in the backgrounder. The objective is to provide as much background information as possible. It can be said that a backgrounder is loaded with information, whereas a news analysis would concentrate to find causes and establish trends.

WRITING BACKGROUNDERS:

It is advisable to write backgrounders in a systematic and planned manner.

The first two steps for writing backgrounders are same as for the news analysis. The subject is chosen out of the current topics and as much information as possible is collected from various sources. Sometimes, need for the backgrounders can be anticipated and the pieces are prepared well in advance. Elections, festivals and ceremonies are some of the occasions when advance planning can be done.

For a backgrounder the data is generally organized in chronological order. Care should be taken to go into the past as much as possible. Since the writer is dealing with the past, there are likely to be gaps. If even after reasonable efforts the gaps are not filled it is advisable to mention this in the writing itself. Similarly, the readers should also be informed if certain data is unconfirmed. The writer has to select the information according to their relevance.

Since the backgrounder contains lot of facts, it has to be written very carefully to make it interesting and readable. This is a challenge before the writer.

Traditionally backgrounders do not contain any pictures or graphics.

But there is no harm if the backgrounders are also made more attractive and interesting by presenting data in tabular formats or in the forms of bar diagrams, pie charts, graphs etc. An odd picture may also be used here and there.

It is worth mentioning here that in the new journalistic practices of today, distinction between various forms of newspaper writing is getting obliterated. There are many backgrounders that are very well illustrated.

There are news items, which contain a few facts lot of analysis and interpretation, some historical perspective, and it may begin or end with an editorial guideline or prescription.

 SUMMARY:

o News features deal with both information and facts. Only the news features are written in a more interesting manner. In news features, the presentation may be dramatic and major information may be revealed after creating some suspense or after creating a receptive environment.

o Compared to the rigid and straightforward style of news writing, news feature writing is relaxed and informal. The people in the story become the actors and they are made to convey to the readers. Their words are used to recreate the scene in the minds of the people. The story is made to move ahead with quotes and incidents. Realistic dialogue fascinates the readers. Verbs that create pictures in the minds of readers are useful. In many cases present tense is used to give the reader a sense of continuing action.

o News features more or less follow the chronological order of story-telling. All-important pieces of information are covered. These can be given in an imaginative manner using quotes, dialogue and picture making verbs.

o News analyses are write-ups on current items/events/issues in which all the available facts are treated together and objective analysis is provided.

o There is clear difference between news and news analysis. In news, current facts are more important. The news writer does not attempt the analysis. News analysis is also different from writing articles and editorials. The editorial is mainly opinion writing and provides clear-cut opinions. Articles also contain opinions and guidelines; they may also have some component of analysis. But a news analysis is simply objective analysis of the assorted facts about an event or issue.

o The scope of writing news analysis is much wider in news magazines.

Many news stories in news magazines contain an element of news analysis, but the principles remain the same. Since deadline in a news magazine is a little bit extended and space is also more (not unlimited) the skills of news analyst are better displayed in news magazines.

o Backgrounders add meaning to the events and issues in the news. Backgrounders do this by explaining them further through background material. These write-ups bring the readers up to date explaining how, why, and when of the event and issue so far.

o There is clear difference between news analysis and backgrounders. There is no or very little element of analysis in the backgrounder. The objective is to provide as much background information as possible. It can be said that a backgrounder is loaded with information, whereas a news analysis would concentrate to find causes and establish trends.

 KEY WORDS:

News features: These deals with both information and facts. Only the news features are written in a more interesting manner. In news features, the presentation may be dramatic and major information may be revealed after creating some suspense or after creating a receptive environment.

Style in News features: Compared to the rigid and straightforward style of news writing, news feature writing is relaxed and informal. The people in the story become the actors and they are made to convey to the readers. Their words are used to recreate the scene in the minds of the people. The story is made to move ahead with quotes and incidents. Even dialogue can be used and actors in the news story can be presented as interacting among themselves.

News Analyses: These are write-ups on current items/events/issues in which all the available facts are treated together and objective analysis is provided.

There is clear difference between news and news analysis. In news, current facts are more important. The news writer does not attempt the analysis.

News analysis is also different from articles and editorials. The editorial is mainly opinion writing and provides clear-cut opinions. Articles also contain opinions and guidelines; they may also have some component of analysis.

But a news analysis is simply objective analysis of the assorted facts about an event or issue.

Gathering Information and Facts: Since the subject of news analysis is current, much information will be easily available. But news analysis must contain facts and arguments that the reader has so far not received.

Following are some of the sources for gathering such information: Previous issues of the newspapers, News magazines, Official reports and documents, Annual reports, The Internet, and Public personalities and specialists.

Backgrounders: Backgrounders are more or less an historical presentation of the information and facts. For example, if the news of the death sentence to a killer rapist is in the news an historical account of the persons hanged in the past will be good topic for the backgrounder. During elections, background information about constituencies, political groups and contestants is very important and every newspaper publishes it.

SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS (SAQs):

1. What is a news feature? Discuss in detail.

2. What is a news analysis? Discuss in detail.

3. Write a detailed note on backgrounders.

4. Write a news feature on any current event in about 300 words.

5. Write a news analysis on any current event in about 300 words.

6. Write a backgrounder on any current event in about 300 words.