Best feature stories

Ann's baseball story
http://www.sptimes.com/News/webspecials/abaseballstory/

 

The one about the GIRL on the Podunk High football team!

 

I decided to go with Prisbell's story on Wall. I think it does a great job showing how far a story can go by digging. If you want to read it again, Moddy, here's the link. I wouldn't want to make you do another google search.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/19/AR2010061902948.html

See you there, Bartlett. I'll be the one in the front, talking.

 

This is my favorite feature of all time. Steve Buckley on Stanley Teevin: http://jeffpearlman.com/?page_id=337

 

Jeff, can you convert that into a digital format?
I'm having difficulty with the pages and columns and stuff.

 

I like to use these two Bill Plaschke stories to show that a good feature might be right in front of you, if you look in the right direction ... a college kid could pull off either of these subjects, perhaps not with Plaschke's style but certainly without six months of digging ...

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/07/sports/sp-plaschke7

(about a really bad high school softball team)

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/nov/22/sports/sp-plaschke22

(about a developmentally disabled kid who flourished as a helper for Pete Carroll)

A high school softball field and a college practice field each is right there in front of you, if you're looking with beyond-the-obvious glasses.

 

I would say it all depends on your goal here. Do you want to display good, 30-inch features from newspapers that are more practical, or do you just want to demonstrate the power of a great narrative?

"The Last American Hero Is Junior Johnson. Yes!" by Tom Wolfe is one of my favorites (http://bit.ly/177olZ), but it's not as approachable nor applicable for those who want to write for newspapers.

I would argue it's more valuable to teach using realistic models. Give them 30-inch, five-source stories and have them build off that. If they prove they can do that competently, then up the ante.

As far as good 30-inch, five-source features, there are examples in the Washington Post and New York Times and Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe and most other good newspapers almost every day.

 

I came across this book last week and think it would be invaluable to college students and offering advice with regard to writing features: "The Silent Season of a Hero" by Gay Talese. The book is stunning.

 

Sirs, Madames,

I sorta think looking for sports-feature books or advice isn't the way to go. Get the kids immersed in good feature writing collections outside of sports to get an idea of the reporting involved and all the possibilities out there. There's a Pultizer feature collection that is incredible. Huge. Never can stop re-reading it. Then steal what you can from there, find a sports, add water, instant feature.

YHS, etc

 

Based on my own experiences in trying to get a better grasp on writing features, a mix of news and sports features is the best way to go. The Best American Sportswriting of the Century is the best collection for sports features.

 

Mr 13

BASW has become, largely, a collection of magazine writing. If you were looking to teach students about newspaper feature writing (as opposed to magazine writing), the Pultizer collection is authoritative.

YHS, etc