The 3rd - Lecture 3

Before this lecture, on media relations, I have never heard before the term, ‘media relations’.

At first, I thought it will be complicated but it is easy to grasp after all.

I have learnt from this lesson that writing a feature is really not an easy feat to do. Unlike writing advertisement, brochures and essays, writing a feature sort of comprises of all of these. It is to show how good the product is but not overdoing it. It provides facts and information about the product in an interesting way to capture the attention of the readers. Thus, it requires the PR person to be professional and creative.

From newspapers to magazines, there are many features written by PR people. In the past, I treat them like any other advertisement or a promotion on a certain product. Now, I understand how much time and effort is spent, to come out with features.

Angles are important in deciding on how the feature is being framed. From different angles, the same product can have its feature being written out in many ways. For example, on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie breaking up, the media tried to make a big deal out of it to gain readership and viewership. The media did so by first reporting on a quarrel that they have and at the same time, including the part whereby they could break up. The angle which the media is focusing on is the possibility that the couple may split which drives the human interest in reading on the story. A feature’s angle is similar to this. A feature’s angle is to find out a point which drives human interest and make it work out for the product. Therefore, I feel that writing a feature can be like writing out a news story, but it requires more creativity.

In conclusion, I find this lecture is quite useful in giving us general guidelines on how to write a feature.