Planning and Producing a News Feature

A news feature is a longer piece of radio or television news, often with a human interest angle. It’s the chance for the journalist to step back and view a topic from a social and historical perspective and to relate current events to that wider picture. It’s also an opportunity to present good news as well as bad.

As with all news, the audience should be at the centre of any news feature planning and production. They must come first when deciding on the topic, interviewing people and choosing talent and then should be at the forefront of the mind throughout the planning and recording process.

Even seemingly straightforward topics can have many news angles, and you should always explore the possibilities for each one. If there is an airline crash for example, the news angle could be how many people survived, or it might be that the captain pulled off a miracle landing.

Using the technique of “show, don’t tell” can make your news feature more interesting to listeners. It’s a lot more effective to describe how a person feels or what they think than simply telling them what happened.

Unlike hard news, there is more scope in a news feature for the writing style of the journalist to show through. However, this should never get in the way of the content.

Diplomacy – The Practice of Advocating For Your Nation’s Interests Around the World

The process of advocating for your nation’s interests around the world, diplomacy uses a variety of tools to advance peace and secure borders. Diplomacy is primarily a communication and negotiation tool that can be coercive but is often nonviolent.

The practice of diplomacy has developed and diversified over thousands of years, as various states, religions, ideologies, and explorations shaped international affairs. Today, diplomats are trained to communicate with people of different cultures, and leaders employ a variety of techniques to achieve their foreign policy goals.

These include international dialogue and negotiations, usually facilitated by accredited ambassadors or envoys, and the use of back-channel communications and private meetings. Large international conferences are another important aspect of diplomacy, where dozens or even hundreds of heads-of-state meet to discuss issues such as global warming and migration.

Diplomacy can be bilateral or multilateral, but is most often conducted between two states or governments. Diplomacy may also involve nonstate actors and groups, though these tend to be more informal and unofficial.

The primary practitioners of diplomacy are diplomats, and the practice is governed by the laws of the receiving state and international agreements. For example, the person of a diplomatic agent is inviolable and cannot be arrested, unless he commits a serious crime or fails to perform his official duties. The residences and property of diplomats are likewise inviolable, and the restraining of any agent of a diplomatic mission or his family is considered a breach of honor.