How To Write Special Feature Articles | Page 3

social movements, in important persons and
events. Magazine articles on these themes, however, had usually been
written by specialists who, as a rule, did not attempt to appeal to the
"man in the street," but were satisfied to reach a limited circle of
well-educated readers.
To create a larger magazine-reading public, editors undertook to
develop a popular form and style that would furnish information as
attractively as possible. The perennial appeal of fiction gave them a
suggestion for the popularization of facts. The methods of the short
story, of the drama, and even of the melodrama, applied to the
presentation of general information, provided a means for catching the
attention of the casual reader.
Daily newspapers had already discovered the advantage of giving the
day's news in a form that could be read rapidly with the maximum
degree of interest by the average man and woman. Certain so-called
sensational papers had gone a step further in these attempts to give

added attractiveness to news and had emphasized its melodramatic
aspects. Other papers had seen the value of the "human interest" phases
of the day's happenings. It was not surprising, therefore, that Sunday
editors of newspapers should undertake to apply to special articles the
same methods that had proved successful in the treatment of news.
The product of these efforts at popularization was the special feature
article, with its story-like form, its touches of description, its "human
interest," its dramatic situations, its character portrayal--all effectively
used to furnish information and entertainment for that rapid reader, the
"average American."
DEFINITION OF A SPECIAL ARTICLE. A special feature article
may be defined as a detailed presentation of facts in an interesting form
adapted to rapid reading, for the purpose of entertaining or informing
the average person. It usually deals with (1) recent news that is of
sufficient importance to warrant elaboration; (2) timely or seasonal
topics not directly connected with news; or (3) subjects of general
interest that have no immediate connection with current events.
Although frequently concerned with news, the special feature article is
more than a mere news story. It aims to supplement the bare facts of the
news report by giving more detailed information regarding the persons,
places, and circumstances that appear in the news columns. News must
be published as fast as it develops, with only enough explanatory
material to make it intelligible. The special article, written with the
perspective afforded by an interval of a few days or weeks, fills in the
bare outlines of the hurried news sketch with the life and color that
make the picture complete.
The special feature article must not be confused with the type of news
story called the "feature," or "human interest," story. The latter
undertakes to present minor incidents of the day's news in an
entertaining form. Like the important news story, it is published
immediately after the incident occurs. Its purpose is to appeal to
newspaper readers by bringing out the humorous and pathetic phases of
events that have little real news value. It exemplifies, therefore, merely
one distinctive form of news report.

The special feature article differs from the older type of magazine
article, not so much in subject as in form and style. The most marked
difference lies in the fact that it supplements the recognized methods of
literary and scientific exposition with the more striking devices of
narrative, descriptive, and dramatic writing.
SCOPE OF FEATURE ARTICLES. The range of subjects for special
articles is as wide as human knowledge and experience. Any theme is
suitable that can be made interesting to a considerable number of
persons. A given topic may make either a local or a general appeal. If
interest in it is likely to be limited to persons in the immediate vicinity
of the place with which the subject is connected, the article is best
adapted to publication in a local newspaper. If the theme is one that
appeals to a larger public, the article is adapted to a periodical of
general circulation. Often local material has interest for persons in
many other communities, and hence is suitable either for newspapers or
for magazines.
Some subjects have a peculiar appeal to persons engaged in a particular
occupation or devoted to a particular avocation or amusement. Special
articles on these subjects of limited appeal are adapted to agricultural,
trade, or other class publications, particularly to such of these
periodicals as present their material in a popular rather than a technical
manner.
THE NEWSPAPER FIELD. Because of their number and their local
character, daily newspapers afford a ready medium for the publication
of special articles, or "special feature stories," as they are generally
called in newspaper offices. Some newspapers publish these articles
from day to day on the editorial page or in other parts of the paper.
Many more