The one that takes the cake today is 'Making a spectacle of yourself' by Sumiko Tan, or, as 'advertised' on the front page of today's Sunday Times, 'Why I don't like to wear glasses'. Did that make you rush to read what she had to say about her glasses?Summary of article:
1. She had 'recurring styes' (always wondered how the plural was spelt) in her eye and had to stop wearing her contact lenses for a bit.
2. She is 'shy about being seen' in spectacles. Some reasons: thick lenses (800 degree myopia), makes her feel like an 'awkward school girl', loves wearing sunglasses of which she has many pairs, glasses are 'a bother when you exercise', vanity, influence of 'pop culture' (e.g. people with glasses usually not portrayed at all or portrayed somewhat negatively in movies etc).
3. Sunglasses 'give me attitude' and are cool.
4. She just made a pair of prescription sunglasses.
This is a feature article written by the Life! editor who, as far as I know, was once also on the Political Desk, and maybe some other desks. I guess she spends her week busily editing Life! She can't be spending the whole week working on her Sunday articles. How does she decide on what to write about? Why did she choose to write an article on her spectacles?
Anyway, I decided to anyhow hantam and see if there was anything on the net wrt writing news features and here is something I found from Media Awareness Network. Let's see how this article fares. Tips from Media Awareness in blue.
1. A news feature takes one step back from the headlines. It explores an issue. News features are less time-sensitive than hard news but no less newsworthy. They can be an effective way to write about complex issues too large for the terse style of a hard news item.
Contact lenses versus glasses - an editor's personal view. An 'issue'? 'Newsworthy'? 'Complex'?
2. Features are journalism's shopping center. They're full of interesting people, ideas, color, lights, action and energy. Storytelling at its height!
One -maybe interesting, maybe not - person's perspective.
3. A feature takes a certain angle and explores it by interviewing the people involved and drawing conclusions from that information. The writer takes an important issue of the day and explains it to the reader through comments from people involved in the story.
Issue explored from writer's angle, writer draws own conclusions from her own angle. No interviews.
Granted, maybe there are different types of news features, and Media Awareness Network is for students and perhaps a Life! editor, with many years of journalistic experience, works on a different plane.
Found something else more general on news writing from Journalism.org. It says that journalists should ask themselves 3 questions before working on their article. Blue words from Journalism.org.
1. Who are the audiences for this story?
Singaporeans, many of whom are myopic. From the S'pore National Eye Centre website: 'Myopia is a rapidly worsening public health problem in Singapore. Surveys have indicated that myopia afflicts 25% of 7 year olds, 33% of 9 year olds, 50% of 12 year olds and more than 80% of 18 year old males in Singapore.'
2. What information do they need to have in the story so they can make up their own minds about what to think?
Do they need to know anything more, since many of them wear glasses/contact lenses already and have probably had similar experiences with their glasses or contact lenses? What do they need to think about? Whether they prefer contact lenses? Whether someone else (who, in all probability, they don't know) prefers contact lenses?
3. What is missing?
Err... what is missing, as far as this topic is concerned?
Okay, I know, I know, if I'm so smart, why don't I go and write an article for the newspaper myself? Actually, if they had asked me to write an article about whether I liked glasses or contact lenses better, I'm sure I'd have been able to do it.
I heard during the sermon in church today that The New Paper featured the Lolita issue, which was also on pg 3 & 4 of The Sunday Times. Perhaps it's issues like these that warrant more feature articles? And yes, I think I'd be interested even in Sumiko Tan's opinions on the matter. Just to quote something from The Sunday Times (words in blue): Said Dr Paulin Straughan from the National University of Singapore: "Why would a 14-year-old prostitute herself? The family must take responsibility... We cannot expect society to police the young for us... We cannot expect the schools to be our moral guardians." Now, don't you wish someone would write more about this social problem?
If anyone is interested, another blogger's take on a previous Sumiko Tan article on... blogs!
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