Feature Writing JMSC0017

1
Feature Writing JMSC0017

• Gene Mustain
• Director, Reporting Writing Programme
• gene_at_hku.hk

2
Course Description

• The goals of this course are twofold
• 1) To enable students to recognize and evaluate
  quality feature writing.
• 2) To enable students to develop the skills to do
  quality feature writing of their own.

3
Course Structure

• A weekly lecture for discussing principles of
  feature writing and analyzing particular works.
• A weekly two-hour lab session devoted to various
  writing and reporting exercises as well as
  student presentations.

4
Course Journal

• Students are encouraged to keep a digital journal
  of things they see, hear or think that might make
  a good feature story.
• These journals will help students develop ideas
  for stories and get in the habit of noticing the
  details that can enrich stories.

5
Course Presentation

• Each student will give an approximately 12-minute
  presentation analyzing a feature story of their
  choosing, subject to the instructors approval.
• Presentations will be made over the last few
  weeks of the course.

6
Course Presentations

• Blasts from the past
• Time magazine on Burma
• SCMP on China tourism
• Washington Post on Katrina
• .and many, many other good presentations in 2005.

7
Course Presentations

• Blasts from the past
• Time magazine on coal miners in China
• SCMP on leper colony in China
• New York Times on rock-and-roll radio in
  Chinaand many more quality presentations in 2007.

8
Coursework

• Each student will be required to report and write
  two major articles of about 1,000 words each.
• One must be a profile of an individual
  interesting for what they think, say or do.

9
Coursework

• Profile blasts from the past
• A student who got 8 As on HKCEE
• A popular HKU professor
• A woman known as Mother of Swire Hall
• A popular 68-year-old amateur photography teacher

10
Coursework

• More Profile blasts from the past
• A young man who comes out of the closet and tells
  his friends hes gay
• A popular young radio host on Commercial Radio
  who also teaches at Chinese University
• A champion swimmer at HKU

11
Coursework

• More Profile blasts from the past
• A young Indian woman from traditional family in
  Hong Kong in an age of modernity.
• A debater tries to make HKU team.
• The blind leader of student development at HKU.

12
Coursework

• The second major article must be a feature story
  from one of several different categories that
  will be discussed in class.
• Students must submit a memo and reporting plan
  for each article in advance for the instructors
  approval.

13
Coursework

• Feature blasts from the past
• The anti-World Trade Organization movement on the
  HKU campus
• Student credit-card problems
• Increasing secondary education opportunities in
  Hong Kong

14
Coursework

• More Feature blasts from the past
• Regulating mobile phone use in Hong Kong
  classrooms
• Anorexia in Hong Kong
• The shoe-polishing industry in Central

15
Coursework

• More Feature blasts from the past
• The Curse of Children one-child policy in rural
  China
• The Truth behind the Glamour The Avenue of
  Stars and Symphony of Lights
• The Magic Power of Japan Culture

16
Course Evaluation

• Each major article counts for 25 of the grade.
• The presentation counts for 25 of the grade.
• Participation in lab exercises and participation
  and attendance in lectures and labs counts for
  25.

17
Required Text

• English-Language News Writing, a textbook that
  includes two chapters on feature writing (other
  chapters on journalistic writing may be helpful
  in other journalistic courses).
• It is available at the JMSC office. It costs HK
  40.

18
Required Readings

• The instructor will often provide copies of
  stories that will then be discussed and analyzed
  in class for their form and style.
• These discussions will help you prepare your
  presentations in the latter part of the course

19
Required Readings

• Feature sections of daily and Sunday editions of
  the South China Morning Post (available in HKU
  library and JMSC office) and the International
  Herald Tribune (free online). Asian editions of
  Time and Newsweek magazines highly recommended.

20
Supplementary Readings

• The instructor will provide other readings for
  classroom exercises and discussions.
• Writing and grammar guide www.economist/research/
  StyleGuide

21
Copy and Communication

• Copy must be double-spaced.
• The first page must include name, telephone and
  email.
• Check email and course website frequently.

22
Course Website

• All class materials, readings and assignments
  will be posted on the course website again,
  check it frequently.
• Just go to the JMSC blog site and click on
  Feature Writing 2008.