It’s the second student newspaper of UTM. “Student” here means run by UTM students and not affiliated with the university administration.
Well, UTM’s first campus newspaper was The Erindalian, founded in 1969. It ran until 1973 and collapsed, but former members founded Medium II in 1974—you see, at the time the exciting new radio station CFRE was considered the primary medium on campus. In 1983, the paper officially split from the student union, and in 1986 Medium II Publications was incorporated. Finally, in 1995 the paper underwent another name change, becoming simply The Medium.
Anytime.
We think it’s important that a student body have a means of connecting, of staying informed about their community, and of discussing their concerns. Their own means—not a means in someone else’s periphery. This campus is part of U of T, but we’re doing our own thing out here, too. And that deserves professional coverage.
You.
You! We are you. That is, we’re all UTM students enrolled right now or within the last year. We happen to love writing and editing, particularly the journalistic sort. And some of us like photography, others like design, and so on. Most of us started by poking around the website or paper the way you’re doing now, so if the above describes you, there’s no reason not to keep reading and consider contributing.
Shoot.
True. We get a lot of help from volunteers, but there are some expenses, including head staff, printing, bookkeeping, audits… The service we provide is funded partly by a student levy and partly by advertisements.
Absolutely. We are limited by our constitution and overseen by a board of directors that you run for and elect. We also hold an annual general meeting that involves fancy words like “quorum”, and we warmly invite you to come ask questions and propose changes if you don’t like how things are run.
Nope, our content is original. There are a few publications that mention our campus from time to time, but again, UTM should have its own voice. As often as we can, we send our own reporters to events, write our own articles, edit our own videos, and take our own photos. (There are exceptions to the photos.)
Well, yeah! We frequently get feedback from people who read the print edition. People from a surprising diversity of academic backgrounds. And it’s much easier to track our online traffic, which we get a lot of—and more every year. I know. We’re stoked.
We provide archives of the past decade or so on our website (scroll down), but there are gaps in one or two periods. The physical record is more complete. Luckily, our management has been careful to keep copies for most of our history, and a large-scale project is currently underway to digitalize our entire print history. Stay tuned.
We do, and you can drop in at any time. We’re on the second floor of the Student Centre, right above the infobooth. Room 200 if you’re a numbers person. Now, there might not be someone there at all hours of the day, but Sundays are guaranteed, and we answer email if you want to arrange a specific time.
Sure thing. Just go back to the Contribute section and click around. There’s plenty there to get you started. Or write to us. Whatever floats your boat.
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Email one of the section editors and express your interest! Simple as that. We have four sections: news ([email protected]), arts ([email protected]), features ([email protected]), and sports ([email protected]).
You can also email the editor-in-chief ([email protected]) for general info, or come by our office on the second floor of the Student Centre, right above the infobooth.
You’ll be added to the editor’s list of writers. Every week, the editor will send out a set of article topics. Any writer who’s interested in covering a topic can claim it (although the most delicate or difficult articles will be given to the most experienced writers). Once you’ve claimed a topic, the editor will coach you by suggesting angles to take, edits to make, people to talk to, and voices to read, depending on the needs of the article. Then you wrap up by Thursday. More detail can be found here.
News deals with campus events, politics, and policy. Arts deals with music, theatre, film, visual art, and so on. Features deals with research and student life. Sports deals with our teams, games, and facilities. Opinion is reserved for editorials and letters to the editor. You’re not bound to any particular section once you start writing for it, so feel free to try one out and switch if you feel you’d rather write about something else. Or you can even write for more than one at a time!
The section editors brainstorm and research what needs coverage from week to week, and a lot of the article ideas are assigned. For example, you’ll pretty like to be asked to cover a UTMSU event for news or a RAWC game for sports at least once That being said, we’re open to creativity, so if you have a specific article you want to write, pitch it to a section editor!
By no means! We all got here from the same place you’re coming from, or from job postings on the Career Centre, and just stuck to it. We encourage as many outside voices to come in as possible. Similarly, you just have to be a UTM student or recent graduate to write, not necessarily enrolled in any particular program or course.
There’s no pressure to write a certain amount. You can write one article, or one a week! But there are benefits to writing more. At six articles, you become a staff writer. That’s a title you can put on your resume.
If you’re involved more, you can be named an associate section editor. You’ll be relied on to contribute regularly, and you’ll work closely with your section editor. It comes with an author page where we put up your bio, photo, and article portfolio. You’ll probably even be invited to lunch! You never know.
This is also the pool from which section editors are usually nominated at the end of the year, and those are paid positions.
The usual deadline is Thursday night. There are exceptions—sometimes a sports game happens on the weekend, for example. It also depends on timeliness, so we might push a features articles, but not news. Make sure you take account of your own time schedule before agreeing to write an article.
You can write for us whenever you want from September to April.
No problem. Go to the Contribute section for more articles like this.
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Send an email to [email protected]! State your name and a contact email address you check regularly and our photo editor will set up a casual interview for us to get to know you better (and vice versa). Basically, we’re trying to get a feel for what assignments interest you the most and what you are comfortable doing.
Once that’s done, our photo editor will send out weekly assignments to all our photographers on a first-come first-serve basis.
A basic understanding of shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and composition (such as rule of thirds). There are many resources and guides online, and your camera manual would have the specific location on where to adjust these settings on your camera.
Absolutely not, though there are some perks if you regularly contribute. These include becoming a staff photographer and a headshot for your author page on the website (perfect to link to for your portfolio!).
Stay as long as you need to get the shots you think best represent the event, and then some (such as multiple angles, and photos). However, please practice etiquette when entering and leaving events. Try to move around when there are breaks to get different angles.
Each editor will have their preferred method; some may want to FTP the photos, others may ask to just email your top 5 photos. Either way, please be sure the photos are a full-size .JPG format and not .RAW.
Please do not edit the photos! We strive to keep the photos as close to the original as possible, and at most we apply “darkroom” edits such as colour balance and saturation. Never, never, never use the cloning tool!
Unfortunately, this is not a paid position; however, you will be credited both online and in print for the photos you take. And if you regularly contribute, you can become a staff photographer and have a photo for your online author page. The author page is great for your resume or portfolio since it showcases all your work at the newspaper.
]]>If you want more detail on a particular section—because they do differ in how one writes for them—check out the detailed guides on news, arts, features, or sports.
Don’t panic. Even if you don’t nail every point on this list, we usually catch it in editing. Plus, we’re always available to go over your work with you and help you grow in your abilities. Whether this is your first article or your fifth, we’re glad to have you writing for us.
Thanks for reading, and good luck!
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This happens throughout the week, but ideally ads have already been sold before the content is planned in order to define the size and available space of the issue. The design editor also needs time to turn any ads for which only text has been supplied into, well, designs.
The first step is generating ideas for our content. That looks different from section to section. The news editor is constantly scouring various sources to find out about university policy changes, student union executive meetings, charity events, and such, whereas the features editor is listening to the side conversations and thinking about what they mean for UTM students. Sports is attending games and arts is attending plays, and it all comes together nicely.
Every Monday, the section editors meet with the photo editor, the online editor, and the editor-in-chief to discuss their plans for the issue. Two things result from this: on the one hand, ideas are brainstormed and cuts are made, and on the other, the media needs are decided for the articles.
If the editors haven’t sent their article ideas to their pool of writers to offer or assign topics, they do so now. The writers get cracking. As they work, they send their drafts to their section editor, who tells them where they’re on track and where they need to change focus or add a little more. This back-and-forth is ideally wrapped up by Thursday evening, but some events happen later in the week. Meanwhile, the photo editor is sending the photographers to events to take pictures (and sometimes video). This is also when people are spontaneously writing letters to the editor.
The section editors send their articles to the copy editor, who fixes mistakes of grammar, formatting, and clarity. The copy editor sends this batch on to the editor-in-chief, who gives them a final look-over, mostly for whether the final product is in a publishable state. Sometimes something just can’t be brought to where it needs to be within the timeframe we have, sometimes there’s a risk of saying something outside of our journalistic bounds, and so on.
Everyone has to be a little multitalented on a small staff. After the editor-in-chief sketches out how the paper will look in terms of picture and ad placement, the design editor sets up the page templates for the editors. But then on Sunday, when the entire editorial team is required to be in the office, the editors have to actually place and format their articles, because the work takes all of Sunday even when it’s divided over five people. (The editor-in-chief does the opinion section.) Meanwhile, the design editor prepares illustrations and infographics to accompany articles.
The copy editor looks over the laid-out pages one last time to check the text, as well to check any new text that’s been written—headlines, subtitles, photo captions, talking head quotes, and so forth. Then the editor-in-chief, the photo editor, and the design editor check all the layout, fix whatever needs fixing, and prepare the files for the printers. A little obsessiveness doesn’t hurt at this stage.
Late on Sunday night, the issue is sent to the printers, who churn out a few thousand copies and deliver them to us by Monday morning. Our distribution manager puts the papers on stands around campus and drives a few bundles to St. George for students to pick up as they start another hectic week. Meanwhile, the online editor and the webmaster are formatting the issue for the website and uploading it all. Throughout the week, we draw attention to the results of all the hard work via social media managing. Students read and comment on the articles, and… the whole process begins again, at least 20 times a year!
]]>The Medium has two kinds of positions: paid and volunteer. Some of these are hired positions, which are posted on the Career Centre in the summer. Others are elected positions; for more on how our elections work, click here.
The editor-in-chief is in charge of the paper. His/her many duties include hiring the non-elected paid staff, managing the team, consulting about content and design, finalizing layout, meeting with the board, and writing a weekly editorial.
The four section editors (our sections are news, arts, features, and sports) plan the content of their sections each week, appoint associate editors, coordinate a body of writers, assign articles, edit the articles, and lay out their sections for publishing.
The photo editor plans the photos to go with the articles, manages a team of volunteer photographers by assigning them articles to cover, takes some of the photos, and prepares the photos for publication.
The design editor creates ads using the written copy we receive from advertisers, prepares a media kit, illustrates articles, and prepares template sheets for layout.
The copy editor goes over every article with a fine-tooth comb to fix mistakes of grammar, formatting, clarity, and concision.
The online editor leads the development of the website. This includes editing videos, preparing the print edition for online publication, and designing new content that differentiates our digital presence from our physical one.
The webmaster is in charge of the back end of our website, maintaining its functionality and working with the online editor to implement any changes. The webmaster is also responsible for the technical side of publishing online.
The advertising manager hires advertising associates, and this team sells ad space in the paper after preparing an initial price sheet. They also strategize sales with the editor-in-chief, prepare invoices, and receive commission.
The distribution manager receives the physical newspapers on Monday morning and delivers them to stands at both the UTM and St. George campuses.
Our finances are overseen by the board and the editor-in-chief, and the actual managing is done through an external hired bookkeeper.
Each election is overseen by a temporarily contracted chief returning officer.
Our writers are all volunteers.
A staff writer is a writer who’s contributed at least six articles in one semester. You can’t feed your family with this title, but it sounds fancy and you can put it on a resume!
The associate section editors (again, our sections are news, arts, features, and sports) are appointed by the section editors based on how well and how consistently they write. They’re expected to keep contributing regularly, and the title comes with a page on the website that has a photo and a bio. So professional!
The photographers apply to the photo editor, who assigns them articles to take photos for. This often involves travelling to events with a writer.
The videographers apply to the online editor, who assigns them articles to take footage for. This often involves travelling to events with a writer.
The board of directors, which comprises the editor-in-chief, a non-voting delegate of the university, a non-voting ex-officio member, and five elected undergraduate students, oversees the company finances and adherence to the constitution. They meet monthly to be updated on the company’s situation and to ratify any top-level decisions or amendments.
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Here’s a quick guide to our election process.
Current elections and downloads are at Elections (or see the bottom left of the site).
Read up on the roles you can run for at Positions (or see the Contribute section).
For inquiries, email [email protected] (or [email protected] during elections).
We run two kinds of elections: board of directors and editorial board.
The board of directors is elected once a semester, with five undergraduate seats.
The editorial board is elected once a year; the elected positions are editor-in-chief, news editor, arts editor, features editor, sports editor, and photo editor.
To run for board of directors, you just need to be a current undergraduate UTM student. So… that means you! Obviously, you’re also a responsible, motivated person.
For the editorial board, ideally you’ve written or worked for us (see Writing FAQ or Photo FAQ). Technically, all positions except editor-in-chief are open to people with experience and qualification from outside, but it helps to know the organization. Note that only current UTM students or alumni of up to one year can run.
Neither type of role works if you’re an executive or board member of another club or student society. Shucks, right?
Click on Elections and download a nomination form. Here’s your checklist:
Board of directors:
Editorial board:
Submit the whole deal to our office before the deadline.
Then…
If you’re running for the board of directors, you’ll get a copy of the campaigning regulations when you submit your nomination form. You can do anything within those.
If you’re running for the editorial board, a day is picked when all candidates give a speech explaining what they bring to the position, and then answer questions from the floor.
For the board of directors, any current UTM student can vote.
For the editorial board, the following people can vote:
This last group will be contacted during the election. If you’re not sure whether you can vote, email [email protected].
The board of directors elections are totes high-tech. Just go to voting.utoronto.ca.
Editorial board voting is done in person or by phone. Details are given during the election.
Board of directors:
Editorial board:
Our elections are run in accordance with the university’s guidelines for student societies. Moreover, our constitution lists election policy and a chief returning officer is hired for the duration of the election to determine regulations and to supervise campaigning and voting.
Scroll up. Or hit F5 to save time! I guarantee it’ll be great. If you do that and you still find yourself back down at this question, email us.
]]>Most of our volunteers have never written a journalistic news article before, so we’ve put together a short guide. (Before you start, it might help to brush up on the basic writing tips.) Not every article will require you to follow every last tip in this guide, but it’ll still be worth reading and absorbing for the journalistic principles it encourages.
The basic news story follows a structure called the inverted pyramid. In this structure, the information is presented in descending order of importance, so that readers receive the most important and interesting information first. They are not unravelling a mystery as they read; if they were to stop partway through, they wouldn’t have missed the essential facts of the story.
The opening sentence is the lead, an incredibly important element of the news story. The lead presents the most important information—what exactly is it that’s newsworthy. It also hooks the reader, since readers tend to decide whether to read the rest of the story after reading just the opening line. Immediately following the lead is usually the nut graph, which clarifies “who, what, where, when, why, and how” questions not addressed in the lead and brings important aspects of the issue to light. An optional lead quote provides a human dimension and contextualizes the event in terms of the reaction.
Note that the exact organization of this information depends on whether the lead is hard or soft. A hard news lead gets the necessary information out immediately, whereas the soft lead has a more interest-driven line before explaining what it’s talking about. For example, a hard lead would run, “The Student Centre expansion referendum was rejected by UTMSU’s board of directors last Thursday after it was determined that voter lists had been mishandled.” The equivalent soft lead might start with something like “UTM students won’t be getting an expansion to their Student Centre next year…” The Medium prefers hard leads for its news section.
From there, the rest of the story provides background information, reactions, quotations, and so forth, winding down towards the end. The final line usually fills the reader in on anything else they should know about the context of the event, such as a past or expected development.
Ask yourself what you need to cover for the story: what basic facts and events took place that necessitated an article? This will help you remain focused and keep your writing tight as you go, and will start to give you an idea of your lead.
Depending on the background needed for your topic, conduct some research by reading articles. Past Medium articles can be used; if you can’t find enough via the site’s search bar, check the archives page or simply Google “medium” and the keywords you need. For U of T topics, you can inform yourself from other U of T papers (like the Varsity) or external publications. U of T’s own media releases are also valuable, although like any organization reporting on itself, they should be supplemented by other sources. If you can’t get enough from summaries, go directly to original documents like budget reports and meeting minutes. Always feel free to ask us for places to look.
It goes without saying that drawing information from these sources is not the same as reprinting them in whole or in part. Now and then in the past, we’ve had to turn down an article that simply copied from another. Please avoid it!
Decide who you need to interview for more up-to-date information, and decide which questions you’ll need to ask them. Never go into an interview without having questions prepared or at least a thorough understanding of the topic. You can also interview students without much preparation in order to get a sense of people’s perceptions of the topic or event.
When you’re asked to cover an event, you must contact the people who organized it. Ask them how many attendees they got, and ask them how it compares to previous years, if applicable. Ask them how much money it raised if it’s a fundraiser. Ask them how they organized the budget for the event. Ask them why the event was held—what issues did it address and why should students care? How did it differ from the average event? Was a success or a challenge, and will they hold it again?
When you’re actually there, take a look at what people are doing. Take notes on anything interesting (or anything unusual) that happens. What actions are being taken at an event that get a response the attendees, or that affect students in general? Sometimes you’ll be scrambling to note everything. Sometimes there won’t be many, and that’s okay too. Not every event produces something significant.
You can also interview people at the event itself. What brought them there? How does it compare to their other relevant experiences? Did they walk away with what they came to get; would they go again? What’s the most significant thing that’s happened at the event?
Come to an interview already knowing which questions you’re going to ask and why you’re going to ask them. What facts do you still need to know? Do you need a colourful account of an event, a publicly stated opinion, or general background information? And conversely, you don’t have to stick exactly to your list if something is said that needs clarification or a follow-up.
Be casual and conversational when you’re interviewing. It can be intimidating to be interviewed, be friendly. It’s possible to be innocent and still be listening closely for information you need. Pay attention to what they’re saying like you would anyone else and make mental notes.
Sifting through an interview afterwards is often the trickiest part. A voice recorder is your best option. Most cellphones have a recorder built in (albeit a low-quality one). Take a pen and a pad of paper, too. You’re not going to use them to write everything down as it’s being said—that’s just impossible. You’ll just make notes about particular quotes and gems you’ll want to come back to. It can also really help to mark the point in time in your recording whenever something significant is said. Later, when you listen to it at your computer, you can go back to those specific reference points, and then get the verbatim version.
You may have collected a lot of notes while preparing to write. Review them and decide what’s most important. Make a list of basic points you need to get across, and rank them most to least important. This will guide the order of information in your story. Decide on the topic of the lead. This isn’t always easy; look for root causes, changes to long-standing policies, events that affect a lot of people.
Write an outline or “roadmap” of the story, including any facts, quotes, anecdotes, and observations that need to be included. Extra detail that can be trimmed down later on is far better than insufficient detail that needs to be backed up. Turn your outline into a quick draft that you’ll revise and polish it later. Go clear your mind for a bit. Submit your draft to the news editor if you need some guidance.
Then your editing begins. At this point you should be communicating with the news editor, who will guide you on different angles to investigate, people to talk to, and sources to include to back up a statement. Please check your facts to reduce the chance that we need to call you at the last minute for clarification! Even a typo, if it changes a figure or the meaning of a quote, can be leapt upon by watchful readers.
Always watch out for the possibility of bias. Remember that everyone who gives you information may have a position to promote. Even a good agenda with noble purposes needs to be stripped down to the facts to maintain integrity and credibility. Of course, give everyone the benefit of the doubt and don’t be overly skeptical. People rarely try to mislead you, but they will draw your attention to certain aspects rather than others. Just compare what they say with the rest of what you know and keep related facts together. And remember that you might come with a set of assumptions too. Never strip a quote of its context or edit out parts that challenge your understanding of the issue.
You can also do a round of stylistic editing once you’ve got the information itself down. Cut out flowery, poetic language from news articles. Cut out the academic beefing up of sentences. Make sure every sentence is easy to read—the basic goal of a news article—and read it aloud if you like. Keep your paragraphs fairly short—two to three sentences is normal. Cut out anything that’s said twice. Of course, this is mainly the section editor’s job; you’re just catching what you can before sending it off.
Speaking of which, when you’re done, don’t forget to email it to [email protected]!
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The arts section is mostly about reviews. We cover movies, music, theatre, literature, art exhibits, talent shows, dance, comedy, fashion, and other artistic events. At UTM, that includes the Blackwood Gallery, the Rhythm dance team, the Style and Profyle fashion show, ArtsFest, and Theatre Erindale, and we also branch out to external sources, like TIFF, when they relate to UTM students.
The ideal review is a blend of two different personalities. One is the critic, the one who asks how good a piece of art is, whether it does what it sets out to do, whether what it sets out to do is unique, whether it’s worth the reader’s money, and so on. The other is the viewer (hey, that’s an anagram of “review”). This is the one who describes what it’s like to be there, what the effect is, whether it was emotionally interesting. These two aspects don’t always line up. We’ve all seen movies we know are downright bad, but are hilarious to watch with friends.
As the critic, you need to be fair and firm. You have no obligation to praise anyone if you don’t believe they’re much good. Your reader can tell if you’re faking it, whereas reserving praise often adds to your credibility. On the other hand, never be negative for the sake of being negative. Keep in mind that much of the art you will cover is student art, and budding young students can’t always be held to the same standards as professionals. Look for potential just as much as for success.
This applies to you too, of course. You might worry that you’re not an expert in what you’re reviewing. Don’t worry—no student is. Review what you’re experienced in, and talk about what you know. It’s better to stick to what you know you can say than to strain to prove that you know everything about the technique or history of an art form. If you’re reviewing a new album by Drake and you want to situate his work in the context of rap, it’s enough to compare it to the other rappers you listen to.
Approach the art from multiple angles. A play is the combination of writing, staging, acting, set design, and more, so think about how each element contributes to the whole. Try to work in a certain amount of background on the artist or the piece of art. For a musician, you could mention an album or two out of their discography or an artist who has informed their style. For a movie, you could talk about the genre or the director’s particular style. And so on.
That also raises the question of interviews. The arts section doesn’t have a history of doing very many, but it can certainly be done properly. If you review an installation in the Blackwood Gallery, you could ask the artist or the curator about the piece. Remember that you want to say something the reader can’t guess on their own. Try to ask for factual personal questions, not loose interpretations. An example of a bad question is, “What does this piece really mean?” A better question might be, “What gave you the idea to make this?”
The style of an arts article is generally looser than news, but not quite as casual as features. Your tone can include the first-person “I” if you want to focus on your personal experience, which could be more appropriate for a musical coffeehouse than an album. Puns are appropriate, but excess puns are never in good taste. Similarly, the form of an arts article isn’t rigid. Although you should structure it in a way that keeps the reader interested while you go from point to point, and include an introduction and summary, there’s no particular order in which you need to mention things. Do be specific and not vague; state examples, not generalities.
Don’t forget to add a star rating out of five if it’s a review of something released to the general public, like an album or movie. We’ll format it for you, so just type it out.
When you’re done, send it to the arts editor ([email protected]) for editing!
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Since the Medium doesn’t have a specialized lifestyle section, the features section tends to encompass more than just your standard long-form articles. We publish infographics, humour pieces, food reviews with a bit of twist (we found the best cookie on campus!), and science articles. That being said, we still publish investigative long-form articles. These tend to be focus on student life. This guide will centre on the latter, since it can be hardest to grasp.
Let’s start with what a feature article is not. A feature article is not an opinion piece. Here’s the difference. An opinion sounds like this: “There are too many people at UTM. There are more people than the campus has resources to offer.” A feature article looks at this statement with a different scope. A feature writer asks, “Are there too many people on campus? What’s the ratio of resources to students?” A feature article aims to answer these questions through research. The feature writer would speak to the administration and the students, gather all the facts, and make all the links that help the reader answer the question for themselves. The feature article would then go on to ask more questions: “If there are too many students on campus, why is enrolment still increasing? How much is it projected to increase in the next few years? What is being done to alleviate the pressure on resources?”
A feature article usually takes an in-depth look at something that appears in the news, or something that’s been on students’ minds. Or it can clear up a misunderstanding that’s been lurking around campus. It can even bring to light something that students haven’t been thinking about, but that’s a little more pertinent than they think. A feature article does all this with solid facts, numbers, and quotes.
The features editor will send out article topics for you to choose from every week or so. But if you’re really into this feature-writing business, or if you’re aiming for an associate editor position, you might want to start brainstorming some ideas of your own. Features is one of the most open sections for writer initiative.
There are many ways to come up with ideas for articles, and we can’t get into all of them at once, but here’s the best way. Go grab a piece of paper (or small notebook) and a pen. Keep these on you at all times. Start looking at everything you see on campus with a critical eye. Soon a random thought will float into your head. (“Why do I have to wait in line for fifteen minutes just to get a cup of coffee?”) Jot it down. Some of these thoughts will be useless (sorry). With others, you’ll find yourself thinking about again and again. You’ll start making links. (“I can’t find a seat in lecture. I can’t find a seat on the bus. What’s up with this campus?”) These are the thoughts you should take to the features editor.
Once you have the go-ahead from the editor, it’s time to put on your investigative fedora. Look for pertinent documents and/or studies online. Look up articles that have been previously written about this topic. Make a list of people you will need to interview. These can be administrators, professors, or club executives. (Hint: contact these people early. People get busy and sometimes they don’t have time to answer emails from nosy journalists like yourself.) If you don’t know where to start, ask your editor. Make a list of questions you need to ask each of these people—whether in person, on the phone or by email. If they don’t know the answers, ask them to put you in touch with someone who does. Next, get the word on the street. Head to a busy place on campus and talk to people. When you’re done, talk to some more people. If you’re shy, start with something like this: “Hi, my name is Bob and I’m writing an article for the Medium. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?”
Write down or record (recommended) everything you’ve learned. Everything.
Remember, not everything you learn needs to be incorporated into the article. In fact, most of it won’t end up in the final draft. Instead, you’ll use most of what you gather to give yourself a better understanding of the topic. As some of the best writers will tell you, you can’t write about what you don’t understand.
Take off your fedora. It’s time to sit at your dimly lit desk and dig out a research question. Lay out all the material you’ve gathered and look for links. Writing a research question is a little like writing a thesis for an essay. Except instead of saying, “In this essay, I’m going to prove that this campus has too many students through x, y and z,” you’ll be asking “Why does this campus seem so crowded?” Most feature articles aim to answer the why and the how. This question will not appear word-for-word in the article, but it will be the engine behind it.
Look for the logically related questions, and your research question will also churn out some offshoots. “Does this crowdedness have anything to do with the time of year?” “What will the campus look like in ten years?” These won’t be the main focus of the article, but you’ll use them to develop sub-themes in your article. We’ll talk about sub-themes in the next section.
Wait. Stop. Don’t write anything yet. You can’t write a good feature article without an outline. If you do, you’ll find yourself thinking up the next point as you write. Your thoughts will seem muddled, and the article won’t have any flow.
Instead, here’s a quick guideline to follow.
Introduction: This can be an anecdote, a narrative, a quote, a question, a teaser, or a fact. This paragraph sets you up to ask your research question.
Paragraph 1: What’s called the “theme paragraph”. Pose your research question.
Paragraph 2: Expand on your research question. Why is this relevant to your readers? Drop some facts that you’ve learned.
Paragraph 3: Use a few sources to start answering part of the question. “Yes, the campus is overpopulated. The average wait for a coffee is fifteen minutes… Enrolment increased by x in the last x years, but resources only increased by y.”
Paragraph 4: Use a few more sources to answer a different part of the question. “MiWay says the buses are only busy because it’s the beginning of year. They predict things will get better as classes go into full swing.” Or “MiWay is aware of the problem, and they’re implementing plan x and plan y to improve it.”
Paragraph 5: More sources for yet another part of the question. “Food services says they experienced this before in year x, they solved it by doing y. This year they plan to solve it by doing z.”
You get the picture. Use as many paragraphs as you need to answer as many parts of the question as you can, following the logical trail to step from paragraph to paragraph. Finally, you’ll get to…
Paragraph 99: What other relevant material have you collected that doesn’t directly relate to the question? Answer some of those off-shoot questions you developed.
Paragraph 100: Revisit the main research question. What does the reader know now that they didn’t at the beginning of the article?
Conclusion: End with something that will keep the reader thinking. This can be another anecdote, question, or quote. (Hint: don’t say “in conclusion…”)
You’ve penned your last word and you’re feeling pretty smug, but don’t hit that “send” button just yet. Take a breather. Go do something else for a little while. When you come back you’re going to have to ask yourself the hardest question of all (aside from “Did I just polish off that whole bag of cheese doodles?”).
Reread the whole article. Look for gaps. Where did you make assumptions? Where are the links unclear? And most importantly, what did the reader learn from this article?
In the process of editing your article, the features editor will ask these questions too. So it’s best to get a headstart. Add a few sentences for clarification. You might even have to do further research. It’s better to have more detail that can trimmed down than to leave questions unanswered.
When you feel like you’ve done all you can, send the article to the editor ([email protected]) as soon as you can. This will allow her to get back to you sooner if she sees any gaps.
• The Bigger Picture: Elements of Feature Writing by Ivor Shapiro
• The Art and Craft of Feature Writing by William E. Blundell
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