How does a feature story differ from a straight news story?
A Feature stories immediately answer the journalistic questions
B Feature stories always have action-oriented openings
C Feature stories begin with summary leads
D Feature stories usually have creative openings
D Feature stories usually have creative openings.
The correct answer is D: Feature stories usually have creative openings.
To understand why a feature story differs from a straight news story, it's important to first have a clear understanding of both types of stories.
A straight news story, also known as hard news, is a type of journalism that reports on recent events or developments in a straightforward manner. It typically follows the inverted pyramid structure, where the most important information is presented at the beginning, followed by supporting details in descending order of importance. Straight news stories are objective, concise, and focus on the facts and who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.
On the other hand, a feature story is a form of journalism that is more in-depth and often goes beyond the basic facts of a news event. Feature stories are designed to engage readers and provide a more personal, emotional, or creative perspective on a topic. Unlike straight news stories, feature stories allow for more subjective opinions and storytelling techniques. They often include more descriptive language, narrative storytelling, and creative openings to draw in readers. Feature stories aim to capture the audience's attention and explore different angles and aspects of a topic, going beyond the surface-level facts.
To identify the difference between a feature story and a straight news story, one key distinction is the opening. Feature stories usually have creative openings that aim to captivate readers from the start, such as intriguing anecdotes, descriptive scenes, or thought-provoking statements. On the other hand, straight news stories typically have more straightforward and informational openings that immediately answer the journalistic questions (who, what, when, where, why, and how).
Therefore, choice D is the correct answer as it highlights the typical characteristic of feature stories and their creative openings, which differ from the more factual and objective openings of straight news stories.
D Feature stories usually have creative openings.
While straight news stories typically begin with a concise and factual lead that presents the most important information upfront, feature stories tend to have more creative openings. Feature stories aim to engage and captivate the reader by using descriptive language, narrative storytelling techniques, or thought-provoking anecdotes. The creative openings of feature stories are meant to grab the reader's attention and set the tone for the rest of the article. Unlike straight news stories that focus primarily on delivering the facts, feature stories often take a more narrative or storytelling approach, allowing for a deeper exploration of the subject matter and more room for personal interpretation and reflection.