Journalism: Interview Skills and Feature Writing

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: to be confirmed
• Prerequisite: Introduction to Journalism Practice
• Assessment: a 500-word feature proposal (15%), 1000-1200-word interview feature (25%), 1000-1200-word experimental feature (25%) and 1300-1500-word multi-source new feature (35%)

This module further develops skills first presented in Introduction to Journalism Practice. You will develop your abilities in identifying appropriate markets and formats for your work, pitching your ideas and writing to specific briefs.

We will introduce you to principles of good interviewing, so that you develop a suite of practical interview techniques. We will also discuss different forms of feature article, and you will develop an understanding of how to construct research portfolios for use in feature articles and develop more complex writing skills.

Indicative syllabus

• What do we want to know, and why? The principles behind interviewing
• Making features work
• The feature in detail: intros, outros, voice and style
• Finding your audience, and pitching your feature
• Guest lecture
• Experiential features
• Getting feature scoops
• The profile interview in depth
• Adapting features ideas for different markets
• Multi-sourced features in depth
• Writing features to specific briefs