News Peg The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was an event with intense,  hard  news  value.  Confrontation  between  the two  strongest  world  powers  could  have  been  the  lead paragraph on the story of World War III. Events in this confrontation   made   the   news   wires   sing   for   many weeks. When the USS Norfolk intercepted a Russian ship removing  missiles  from  Cuba,  the  New  York  Times News Service covered it in a lead that read as follows: The  captain  of  a  Soviet  freighter reluctantly   stripped   the   tarpaulin covers   from   eight   medium-range missiles  on  the  deck  of  his  freighter Friday for photographing by a United States  destroyer. Using this news event as a peg, and realizing that he could not compete with news-service speed in making releases, the PAO aboard  Norfolk released a feature with a  different  slant: Much  of  the  old-style  drama  and military dash of the international crisis is  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  thrill  of “Victory at Sea” is no longer as graphic in  its  modern  context  as  that  famous World  War  II  documentary  movie. Today’s  coverage  of  events  that shape the lives of nations comes, often as not, from the centers of government and  military  command  posts.  For  the chess game of world events is no longer played  in  the  smoke  of  battle,  but  in planning  rooms  where  statesmen, military  personnel  and  civilians  in government  call  the  plays  thousands  of miles from the scene of the move.   ... The  event  and  object  sources  are  rich  in  feature prospects.  Here,  the  imagination  and  curiosity  of  the writer  are  put  to  the  test.  Most  hobbies  are  quite commonplace, yet an ordinary hobby can provide good story material if there is an element of the new, the odd or the unusual connected with it. In   conjunction   with   hobbies   and   collections, museums supply fine material for stories. Here the ideas usually   come   from   historical   circumstances surrounding the objects of their development. Browse through  a  museum  and  ask  yourself  these  questions: Why is this object on display? What significance does it have? What historical event is connected with it? Stories   concerning   historical   events   must   be especially well-written and interesting because people do not like to read about events presented in textbook style. However, they are interested in what one person or group did in a particular historical event. These are a few common areas that produce ideas for  articles.  There  are  many  others.  The  point  is,  the ideas are there and you must open your eyes to them. REQUIRED FEATURE WRITING SKILLS To  become  a  successful  feature  story  writer,  you must be proficient in the following feature writing skills: grabbing  the  reader’s  interest,  being  observant  and writing. about people. These areas are examined in the following  text. Grabbing Reader Interest To  attain  reader  interest,  features  may  depend  on prominence  such  as  that  in  an  event  like  the  Cuban Missile  Crisis.  The  personality  profile  would  also  fit here.  And,  in  this  case,  the  relationship  between  the news elements of proximity and prominence should be considered. For example, a story about one of the space shuttle  crew  members  would  be  of  interest  almost anywhere  because  of  the  prominence  of  the  subject. How  about  the  CO  of  Agana  Naval  Air  Station?  The proximity  to  NAS  Agana  and  surrounding  communities might   make   the   CO   prominent   enough   to   merit   a personality sketch in the local Guamanian newspaper, but nowhere else, except perhaps, his hometown. Consideration  for  the  target  readership,  then,  is important  for  the  writer  of  feature  articles.  It  soon becomes obvious that attempts to define a feature story fall short, probably because the range of material is as broad as the full range of human experience. Anything people make, do, enjoy or respond to serves as a peg on which to hang the feature story. Feature stories stir emotions, stimulate, divert and entertain. These objectives could serve as a goal for the feature writer, but they do not tell what feature stories are.  Certainly,  the  account  of  one  nation’s  warship intercepting the missile-carrying freighter of another in international waters is capable of stirring emotions and stimulating readers of the world. The story behind the story — the feature story — is the  vehicle  for  unabashed  revelation  of  the  human New, Odd or Unusual 3-2