Feature

How it is used

Contrasted with hard news. Features are less tied to a deadline and can be profiles, long reads, travel pieces or human-interest stories. Newspapers have a features desk and a features editor; you write, pitch or commission a feature.

Example sentences

1. I'm writing a feature on the last traditional bakers in the old town.

2. The weekend magazine runs one long feature and several shorter interviews.

Common collocations

• write a feature
• features desk
• features editor
• long-form feature
• human-interest feature

Related terms

• investigative journalismJournalism that spends weeks or months uncovering hidden information, often about wrongdoing, corruption or abuse of power, using documents, data and confidential sources.
• editorialAn article that gives the official opinion of a newspaper or magazine on an issue, usually written by senior editors and often published without a byline.
• columnA regular article by the same writer, usually in the same place in a newspaper, magazine or website, giving their personal views or advice.
• angleThe particular point of view or focus a journalist chooses for a story, which decides which facts and voices come first.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• feature · Software Engineering
• feature · Data Science & Analytics
• feature · Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
• feature · Product Management

More terms: Story Types and Opinion

• columnist
• op-ed