Steen Senon Politics
Steen Senon Politics
Steen Senon Politics
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Abstract
Feature journalism has developed from being an insignificant supplement to news journalism to a family of genres that today dominates newspapers. The present article explores the
growing importance of feature journalism and attempts to understand its social function,
how it has changed and why it has become so important. Based on an analysis of influential
textbooks on feature journalism, the paper argues that feature journalism has traditionally
been dominated by a literary discourse, and discourses of intimacy and adventure discourses that thus have become increasingly important for newspapers, thereby transforming
the social function of news in general. Today, however, the genres of feature journalism are
undergoing significant changes, reflecting the technological, social, economic and cultural
changes that affect the media industry and the role of journalism at large. The present article
is framed by a social constructivist view of genre, and it outlines possible scenarios for
future transformations of feature journalism.
Keywords: feature journalism, soft news, genre theory, discourse analysis
Introduction
It is often argued that feature journalism is becoming increasingly important for the
news industry, especially newspapers. According to Brett and Holmes, newspapers have
gone through a dramatic transformation, abandoning to a certain degree their hard news
rationale and adopting the ways of magazines (2008: 190). In the preface of the 25 th
anniversary edition of the 1979 ethnographic study of news production, Deciding whats
news, Gans argues that the greatest change in the newspaper industry since his classic
study is the replacement of hard news with an increase in soft (or feature) news (2004:
xiv). Niblock argues that the proportion of feature journalism in British newspapers has
been stretched from 10 per cent in the 1750s to as much as 70 per cent in some papers
today (2008: 46). In Scandinavia, major newspapers like Aftenposten, VG, Dagbladet,
Dagens nringsliv, Aftonbladet, Expressen, Dagens Industri and Jyllands-Posten have
all launched several new feature supplements within the past decade in order to minimize
drops in circulation.
Feature journalism is generally associated with newspaper weekend sections and
glossy magazines. Human interest stories, reportage, celebrity profiles, colourful background stories, lifestyle stories, personal columns these are among the kinds of stories we call feature journalism or soft news, as it is most commonly referred to in
broadcast journalism (Boyd 2001), where it also has proliferated (Baum 2002; Scott &
Gobetz 1992).
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social constructivist view of genres, implying that genres constitute some kind of social
action (Miller 1994) that clarifies the relationship between text and society (Lders et
al. 2010). Feature journalism is a social act of communication that encompasses certain
conventions and expectations as to how it is produced, distributed and consumed. These
conventions and expectations are established through time in order to address a specific
exigence, i.e. an objectified social need (Miller 1994: 30). Feature journalism as social
action therefore comprises two things: First, a specific social function, understood as
the response to a specific exigence, and second, a recognizable rhetorical form that this
function is expressed through and the exigence addressed by.
Feature journalism is best understood as a family of genres that address a similar
exigence but differ in rhetorical form. The shared exigence that traditional feature
journalism seems to address comprises a publicly recognized need to be entertained
and connected with other people on a mainly emotional level by accounts of personal
experiences that are related to contemporary events of perceived public interest. The
differences among the genres of feature journalism are related to the rhetorical forms
that are used to address this exigence. The newspaper feature reportage genre, for instance, typically encompasses a narrative structure, first-person accounts of events and
a colourful style of writing, while the profile interview genre typically contains the
in-depth questions and answers of the journalist and the interviewee, colourful writing,
personal characterizations and a profile picture or caricature drawing.
Because the present paper is primarily concerned with the social function of feature
journalism, discourse analysis stands out as a fruitful approach to analysing how this
social function has been portrayed over time. The shared social function of genres of
feature journalism is expressed by certain discourses in a discursive practice. Discursive practice commonly refers to both the social and textual aspects that constitute
and frame a line of communication, from the tacit knowledge of the producer and the
social context in which the production of text is embedded, to the tacit knowledge of
the audience and the social context in which the text or utterance and the reception of it
are embedded. van Dijk (1997) outlines 12 different approaches to discourse analysis,
one of them being discourse understood as strategy. This approach implies searching
for the strategic purpose that frames and is expressed in an act of communication. In
texts that are recognized as belonging to a specific genre, this strategic purpose (or their
purposes) is shared across a discourse community, e.g. a newspaper and the audience it
targets. Searching for the representation of such discourses in a text can therefore tell
us something about the social function of that text and hence the genre it constitutes.
To illustrate the relationship between social function, discourse and rhetorical form,
I will take a closer look at how one genre of feature journalism, the newspaper feature
reportage, might address the shared exigence of feature journalism as presented above.
The social function of the newspaper feature reportage is to address this exigence, and
the journalist does so by evoking certain discourses through a specific rhetorical form.
A newspaper feature reportage on, lets say, the situation in Somalia might, for instance,
encompass discourses of intimacy and solidarity in order to move the reader by evoking
feelings of solidarity with the people of Somalia through intimate encounters with one
or a few Somalis. Furthermore, the reportage might encompass discourses of actuality
and quintessentialism (discourses that are also found in hard news) in order to provide
and access factual and significant information on current events in Somalia events that
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are considered important to the discourse community. Finally, the reportage might encompass a literary discourse and a discourse of adventure in order to tell an adventurous
and entertaining narrative from a remote place. The dominant text norms that constitute
the rhetorical form of the feature reportage genre are most likely the use of first-person
accounts of particular events in Somalia that are described in a colourful, narrative style
of writing (Steensen 2009a; Carey 1987; Bech-Karlsen 2002).
As the example illustrates, multiple discourses may be represented within one genre
and a discourse may be expressed in multiple genres. This is common in journalistic
texts, which tend to be rather complex and thus belong to what Fairclough calls a creative discursive practice (1995: 60). Tracing the discourses that frame and are represented in feature journalism would therefore be a way of analysing the social function
it has, and therefore the kind of genre or genre family it constitutes. This is therefore
the analytical approach I will adopt here.
He further underlines the need for feature writers to have literary skills: the feature
story often lends itself to the tricks and insincerities of the literary fakir (1925: 139).
An interesting observation is how H.F. Harrington calls the feature writer not a journalist, but a writer. This may be interpreted to imply that feature writers were not part
of the journalism community to the same degree as for, instance, news reporters they
were more likely to be part of writers communities, like the Blue Pencil Club a club
where the members discussed not journalism, but literature and life, according to H.
F. Harrington (1925: 8).
This leaves an impression that feature writers traditionally have been closely tied
to fiction writers and thus have based their writing on the techniques and skills of such
writers. The same labelling of feature writers as writers instead of journalists and the
link to fiction writing runs through all significant textbooks on feature journalism (see
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for instance Blundell 1988; Garrison 2004; Reddick 1949; Williamson 1977). Garrison
argues for instance that [m]any writers will say that feature articles fall somewhere
between news writing and short story writing (2004: 8).
It therefore seems that a literary discourse has dominated feature journalism from the
days of the Blue Pencil Club to modern-day feature writers. This literary discourse can
be found in Scandinavian scholars writings about feature journalism as well. Roksvold
argues that the feature journalist utilizes techniques of writing that traditionally belong
to fiction writing (1989: 21, my translation).
Some textbooks even emphasize this dimension of feature writing in the very title, like
W. Harringtons Intimate journalism (1997).
In Scandinavia, Roksvold (1989) argues that feature journalists mark their stories
with a personal touch. Bech-Karlsen argues that a feature story addresses the stomach
as much as the brain, it appeals to all senses and feelings. It searches for the human
aspect (1988: 27, my translation). And according to Hvid (2004), a feature story should
provide the reader with intimate encounters with other people.
In other words, it seems that a discourse of intimacy has been a dominant characteristic of feature journalism throughout its history. This discourse implies that the feature
journalist gets intimate with her sources in order to portray their emotions in her stories,
it implies that she seeks to connect with the reader on an intimate level, and that she
allows herself to be personal in her writing, by for instance using the personal noun I.
into that dreary ledger of impression and observations; it was soggy as a loaf of bread
without yeast (1925: 202).
This suggests that a discourse of adventure has been present in feature journalism
from the very beginning. This discourse is closely linked to the literary discourse it
is a result of the emphasis on not only good writing and poetic language, but on storytelling and thus human action as dominant parts of good feature stories. According to
modern-day textbooks, the discourse of adventure is still a very dominant part of feature
journalism. Garrison argues that feature stories must come alive by adding activity
(2004: 37). The reading must be adventurous, and to achieve this, the feature story relies
heavily on observations of action over time i.e. reporting. Blundell (1988) emphasizes,
for instance, that feature writing cannot be done without initial reporting. Others, like
Reddick (1949) and Alexander (1982), underline how the feature writer uses personal
observations as an ingredient in her stories. Garrison encourages his readers to look
around and explore places.
This emphasis on reporting and observation makes it clear that the reportage genre
is significant in feature journalism. The reportage is typically defined by the fact that
it contains first-person observations made by the journalist (Bech-Karlsen 2002; Carey
1987; Steensen 2009a). The skilled reportage journalist seeks out interesting places,
people and environments, she observes and gathers the facts, before writing a story that
takes the reader on a journey to the same place, to meet the people there and get to know
what they are doing. Good reportage writing, in other words, is built upon adventures.
So is most of feature journalism. Bech-Karlsens definition of the reportage makes the
relation to feature journalism obvious: [t]he reportage is a personal narrative based on
the journalists own real world adventures (2002: 216, my translation). This definition
encompasses all of the three discourses present in feature journalism: literary (narrative), intimacy (personal), and adventure.
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phasis on the discourse of intimacy. These new new journalists, as Boynton describes
them, developed innovative immersion strategies in order to lengthen and deepen
their involvement with characters to a point at which the public/private divide essentially disappeared (2005: xiii). There are also other indicators of an increased emphasis
on intimacy in feature journalism. Ponce de Leon argues that profile interviews in the
American press have increasingly emphasized a therapeutic discourse (2002: 278).
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Conclusion
A core argument in the present paper is that feature journalism is a family of genres that
have traditionally been dominated by three discourses: a literary discourse and discourses
of intimacy and adventure. The social function of feature journalism which has been
surprisingly stable during the past hundred years has therefore primarily been to entertain the audience and connect people on an emotional level through the exposure of
personal experiences of perceived public value.
However, feature journalism has become increasingly important to newspapers.
This process has transformed the genres of feature journalism to include discourses of
(hard) news journalism and an increased emphasis on the discourse of intimacy. Today,
feature journalism is undergoing substantial change due to new market conditions for
newspapers and competition from new media. The discourses of feature journalism are
represented using totally different rhetorical forms online, new discourses are embedded in feature journalism in newspapers and online, and the literary discourse and the
discourse of intimacy might overshadow the discourse of adventure in book-length
feature stories.
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There are at least three implications of this development: First, academics need to
move beyond the hard news/soft news dichotomy and recognize the diversified nature
of journalism and the multiple social functions it has. Second, the growing importance
of feature journalism and its increasingly diverse nature suggests that the social function
of news in general is transforming towards becoming more consumer-oriented, intimate
and fiction-inspired. Third, this increasing diversity and complexity of feature journalism may imply some degree of communicative collapse in journalism, in the sense that
journalistic texts might be interpreted and contextualized differently by producers and
readers. According to Miller (1994: 37), novel or subtle combinations of form (which
mark feature journalism today) might lead to a differently constructed rhetorical situation
by the rhetor and the audience. A news journalist who utilizes feature techniques, and
thus embeds for instance a literary discourse and a discourse of intimacy in her hard news
story, might be met by an audience whose expectations do not include the discourses of
hard news. Likewise, a feature journalist with literary ambitions who embeds a commercialized consumer discourse in her feature story might not be met with expectations
of literary quality. And a feature journalist who utilizes techniques of fiction writing to
produce book-length stories might be met with expectations of fiction rather than fact.
Such stories marked by a divide between intentions and expectations do not constitute
a genre, according to Miller. The consequence might be that a greater divide will arise
between journalists and their audience a divide marked by misunderstandings and
failed expectations. Such a divide might leave journalism in limbo. The audience might
prefer texts that belong to genres with a more clear-cut social function, like the novel,
the personal weblog, the commercial or the celebrity gossip magazine.
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STEEN STEENSEN, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Journalism, Library and Infor-
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