Feature News Stories and Op-Eds

Who knew that "op-ed" actually stands for "opposite the editorial page".

Well, not me.

Along with that, here are a few other interesting "something to think about" this-n-thats when it comes to feature news stories and op-eds.

Approaches to take when writing for features:

• Distribute a general story to a variety of publications for more opportunity to get published. There are websites to help with this type of approach, such as prnewswire.
• Interest a freelancer or reporter in writing a story- there are plenty of people looking for some extra cash.
• Write an exclusive feature for one publication- unlike the first, this approach will have less chance of mass publication, but also hold more value because every news outlet longs for exclusivity, just like a little kid anxious for the tooth fairy- just one of those things.
• Post features online- this approach is easy to produce and easily accepted because to print online doesn't take printing, etc..

Now, there are many different types of feature stories to write about. Here are some good choices to get started with:

• case study- article about a specific case or situation where a service or product effected someone.
• application study- kind of like the case study, this story details how consumers can benefit from a featured product. This type focuses on the product, the case study focuses on the consumer.
• research study- researches an aspect of lifestyle or common life situation.
• backgrounder- commonly focuses on historical material which draws human interest.
• personality profile- features a celebrity or top employee of a company, in order to bring them into a more common light and not as patronized.
• historical feature- tells about a major event or anniversary in the community.

Golden tip of the day (I won't even charge for this one): Feature stories and pretty common, so to be a successful feature writer, look for a niche or unique view of an event- a way to stand out from all the other feature writers who are sending in stories about the same day and possibly the same event.

Feature stories are formatted just like news releases (which we talked about a couple of weeks ago). Photos and graphics are also a great way to draw attention from readers, as well as editors.

So, pick your type and viewpoint for an article- throw in a grand amount of quotes, examples, facts, and story telling skills in order to deliver an entertaining and interesting story.

However, Op-Eds are a tad-bit different. These are only about 400-700 words and contain more facts than creativity. It is basically an opinion based article that provides facts of an event to support the particular opinion of the author.

All this jazz was taken from Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis L. Wilcox.