The freedom of feature writing is very appealing and it is always interesting to see how the writer has taken a unique angle on the story. If a feature story is well done, it will draw you in and you will read it all the way through, wanting more with each line. The collection of stories that were part of this reading provided a broad range of feature writing styles and angles.
Sean Gardiner’s article about the NYPD’s inaction over a missing black woman is based on a police investigation, well the lack there of a police investigation and the proposed ‘Romona’s Law’. The article is really emotive and builds the story nicely from the mini profile of Ramona at the start which builds her as a real person before going through the story in a chronological order. The story is also told greatly through Romona’s mother Elle Carmicheal’s eyes as she describes the events – waiting for her daughter to return, her frustration with the police for their inaction and the pain that she went through.
Although it is very clear who’s side Gardiner is on, he builds the story fairly methodically, recreating what happened in each step that goes along and telling the story with loads of detail, including the more gruesome facts about Romona’s murder. The story is largely based on interviews – the interview with Elle Carmichael is what the story is structured around. Detective Wayne Carey did not respond to calls for an interview but there are quotes from him when he testified.
The most shocking part of the story for me was the ending, I have obviously watched too many TV shows as I was expecting a nicer conclusion – maybe the Detective was punished for his inaction or at the very least ‘Romona’s Law’ would now be in affect helping out hundred of other families with missing people. But the ending was as bad as the story before, the Detective got a promotion and Romona’s Law was dismissed after one hearing.
‘Pearls Before Breakfast’ is a feature based around a stunt by Washington Post when they got one of the greatest classical musicians in the world Joshua Bell to play his violin in the DC metro posing as just another busker to see if the commuters would recognise the beauty and skill or whether they would just walk on by.
The idea of this article is a really interesting one and uses some great descriptive writing to tell the story. It’s an interesting technique that the writer uses where it isn’t until the third page that the reader actually finds out who the world renowned musician is. And this revelation comes via an interview with an expert in classical music and their back and forth conversation is documented word for word. I think the author has used this to build the drama of the story, to the average reader the name ‘Joshua Bell’ would probably not be quite as shocking as to a classical music expert so the author cleverly uses the reaction to draw readers into the story to find out more about Joshua Bell (unless they are aware of him, then they are probably just as intrigued!).
I really liked this article, the imagery the journalist used and the fact that he was able to set up this elaborate stunt to generate a unique story. I loved the little stories within the larger piece- the descriptions of Bell gives the reader a clear picture of what he looks like and an insight into his personality, the little story about taking the taxi three blocks which leads to the fascinating history behind his violin (and the amazing price) and the lovely part about every child who went past Joshua Bell wanted to stop before being whisked away by their parent.
The final article ‘We have still not lived long enough’, was published during the 2009 Bushfires based on the currency of the news event. The opening line of the article is a really strong introduction that immediately drew me in to read the article. Short and succinct sentences open the story and the powerful language continues throughout the article to build a strong story.
In Feburary 2009, the Victorian bushfires where a story that consumed the news and everyone couldn’t get enough information. This story builds on that desire for more from the readers by talking about and comparing the two biggest fires 1939 and 2009. The journalist has used his investigations of the past to draw comparisons and talk about the next steps for Victoria towns.
