An interview isn't a substitute for being there

Today's feature on Joshua Landis was good, but it lacked depth.

It lacked depth because the only thing I know about Landis' experience is what he told the reporter. I'm sure Landis is accurate and honest about his experiences, but the second hand nature of an interview doesn't help readers understand the situation he is in as one of the leading experts on Syria. It only explains it to them.

Actually, a lot of our features on faculty, staff and students tend to lack one of the most important things journalists can leverage: our powers of observation.

Instead of telling me through an interview with Landis how he "whores around" (a good quote) with the media, take some time to go with Landis to an interview he has to do. Try to spend extra time with him to observe his reactions to media phone calls. Does his demeanor change? Does he take a more authoritative tone? Perhaps he loses/maintains his jovial personality?

These are important things to add to features. A good feature is usually about something someone does. But a great feature is about something someone does and how that action impacts them and their loved ones.

Taking some extra time and asking the main source of the feature if you can shadow them to observe their experiences will go a LONG way in helping you write a story. No longer is the story about struggling to find transitions between quotes. (If you find yourself doing that then you aren't writing a feature. It's a question and answer story.) Now it has observation. Now you SHOW readers how the decisions and actions and personality of a person impacts themselves and others.

Here are some great features I've read that I think help expand our idea of a feature. They are long, but they are long because the reporter took the time to observe as well as interview them. These are professional, magazine features, but they provide an excellent foundation in approaching interesting subjects (in this case it's famous people or athletes).

Frank Sinatra Has a Cold - Gay Talese (This is one of my favorite things...ever)

The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson - Tom Wolfe

An excellent example of a great newspaper feature was written by our very own Chris Miller. Miller braved the cold at 5 a.m. to discover just what the work of a Facilities Management employee LOOKED like during a pending ice storm. It's great stuff.

Crews work overnight to clear snow -- Chris Miller

Take a look at these examples and apply the wonderful and powerful tool of observation to make your features more compelling. Your readers will thank you.