interest  element  in  any  hard  news  event.  The  PAO’s Cuban missile feature does this as it continues: The Cuban Quarantine centers the eye  of  the  world  on  the  Caribbean, while  the  real  events  are  charted  far away in Washington and Moscow. The drama  of  confrontation  is  still  very much set in scenes of ships patrolling the  seas  around  Cuba.  The  lines  of battle are drawn by ships every bit as powerful, many times as sophisticated, and  just  as  serious  as  the  battleship behemoths of former wars. When the forces meet, as when the destroyer  leader  USS  Norfolk  (DL  1) detected   the   Russian   merchantman Leninisky  Kosomol  steaming out of the south  Cuban  port  of  Casilda  through the   receding   clouds   of   a   tropical rainstorm,  the  surface  action  begins with  the  flashing  light  of  exchanging calls. Events  followed  rapidly  as  the radio  waves  emanating  from  the  two ships   pulsed   messages   reporting contact   and   requesting   instructions. Agreements    between    governments born at United Nations sessions began to be implemented on the high seas. . . . Being Observant The successful and prolific feature writer develops a   keen,   inquisitive   faculty   for   observation.   A well-tended landscape is not just a pleasant view to the feature  writer.  The  journalist  wonders  who  keeps  it  trim and why, inquires into the benefits of conservation or erosion   control   and   the   alternatives   —   wildlife sanctuaries  or  outdoor  living.  And  chances  are,  the writer can write the answers received into an interesting feature article. The  power  of  observation,  the  habit  of  accepting nothing   at   face   value,   of   digging   into   unanswered questions below the surface of the event, are invaluable to the feature writer. A  prime  source  of  ideas  is  the  daily  newspaper. News  stories  that  appear  in  the  newspapers  record national,  state  and  local  events  as  they  happen.  They usually  do  not  give  background  material  or  cover  all aspects of a story. Yet everyday, news stories appear that open the way for a flood of feature articles. The ability to take a bare fact from the news page and give it meaning can produce a good article, but here, as in wire service copy, the feature must reflect local interest. For example, a news story mentions a change in  income  tax  regulations;  the  feature  writer  shows  how this  change  will  affect  the  reader.  Thus  the  writer localizes the news story and gives it expanded meaning. Military news, such as changes in regulations, pay, mission  or  anything  affecting  military  readers,  could also interest general readers. The alert and skillful writer can turn these bare facts, and sometimes dull items, into meaningful   articles. Writing About People The  typical  military  editor  of  a  commercial  daily often  feels  “handouts”  (standard  news  releases)  are hounding him to death. They choke his style. They keep him tied to a computer doing rewrites. He would rather be  working  on  a  feature  angle  or  out  working  up  an enterprising story. He greets the daily handout pile as the worst part of his job. Why? Not because handouts do  not  contain  legitimate  news.  Most  of  them  do  — buried  somewhere  behind,  in  or  among  fancy,   words and reams of promotions. Reporters say the typical military handout fails most often by the absence of names and addresses of those persons around which the story, event or action is built. They  say  infractions  of  several  other  basic  rules  of journalism  also  frequently  draw  the  handout  to  the wastepaper basket, rather than to the printed page. However  complex  and  amazing  a  ship  may  be,  a story  that  is  more  iron  rather  than  flesh-and-blood sailors often sails right into the wastebasket along with the larger part of the handouts of the day. What most media want in the way of a Navy feature 20, of 2810 Prairie St., Landlock City — performing his duties  to  make  the  vessel  an  efficient  ship.  Names, properly  spelled  and  accompanied  by  ages  and addresses,  keep  wire  services  and  newspapers  in business. Details of ships or stations are interesting to people  back  home,  especially  if  those  facts  relate  to sons,  daughters,  husbands  or  hometown  acquaintances. A   sparkling   story   about   a   search   and   rescue,   for example, is a natural, both from hard news and feature standpoints — if those indispensable names, ages and addresses  are  included. is a particular individual — Seaman John B. Boatwright, 3-3