Types of Features in Print Media

1. Human interest features

A human interest story is written to show a subject’s oddity, novelty or its practical, emotional, or entertainment value. For example, the story of a child with extra brilliance or skills, or a new planet is found in the solar system.

2. Personality profiles

A personality profile is written to bring an audience closer to a person in or out of the news. Profile articles generally provide background on the profile subject - their age, where they grew up and where they were educated, where they live now, they are married off to, their kids are living, who and what influenced the person, their ideas, and their choice of vocation or profession.

3. News Features

News features often cover the same subjects as deadline hard-news stories, but do so in greater depth and detail. News features tend to focus on individuals more than deadline news stories, which often focus more on numbers and statistics. For example, telling the story of a natural calamity that occurred recently through the eyes of a survivor.

4. Historical features

These features commemorate important dates in history or turning points in our social, political and cultural development. They offer a useful juxtaposition of then and now. Historical features take the reader back to revisit an event and issues surrounding it. A variation is the date in history short feature, which reminds people of significant events on a particular date.

5. Follow ups

These are articles on current issues in the news by explaining them further. These articles bring an audience up-to-date, explaining how this country, this organisation, this person happens to be where it is now.

6. Seasonal features

Stories about holidays and the change of seasons address matters at specific times of a year. For instance, they cover life milestones, social, political and cultural cycles, and business cycles.

7. Specialized features

These are features on a specialized topic like medicine, astrophysics, cinema, etc. these are prepared with the guidance of experts in the field.