Feature Page Writing Practice

Below is a feature page writing exercise I did to practice writing techniques and accommodate myself with extracting and formatting information from an interview style text into one of an article. 

Reference Material: 

     

The police in this municipality received a call at 3:45 p.m. yesterday afternoon. A woman shouted at the sergeant who answered the telephone. She said: "My son's been beaten. His teacher whipped him this afternoon, and he's all red where she paddled him. Can teachers do that? That's assault and battery, and I want her arrested." Two police officers were sent to the home. They questioned the boy, who is 9 years old. At his mother's insistence, the police officers also inspected the boy's reported injuries. They reported: "We couldn't tell that the boy had been paddled. His fanny didn't look red to us, but we did notice that his pants legs were wet and muddy. As we talked, it became obvious that he boy was lying. He finally admitted that he had stopped to play on the way home from school, forgot the time and got home late. He told his mother that the teacher had spanked him and kept him after school. His mother was there with us and heard the whole story. She said she'd take of the situation, and we're quite certain that she will, as she was very embarrassed. In fact, we could hear her giving the kid a real paddling as we left—and a hard one."

Sample Lead:

       At 3:45 pm yesterday afternoon the angry voice of a concerned mother boomed through the speaker of the sergeant's phone with horrid allegations against a local elementary school teacher. This livid women claimed that her son came home with redden and inflamed skin from the paddling his teacher gave him. The mother of this 9 year old  boy demanded that his teacher be arrested for assault and battery. However after further investigation from the police and a lack of evidence it is safe to conclude that the boy did get paddled that day but not by his teacher. 

     "He finally admitted that he had stopped to play on the way home school.... and got home late." The police report states. Mischievously the little boy " told his mother that the teacher had spanked him and kept him after school". With embarrassment tinted on her cheeks and a fierce look in hers his mother sent the police away and told them she would handle the situation, no doubt planning on her curing her son of his lying problem with a paddling.

In addition to this writing practice I also did a mock interview during class with my peers, which was a stimulation of the real interview I will conduct my the model for the feature page in my magazine. This interview was enlightening an experience that taught me how to facilitate an open-ended conversation, format relevant questions, and obtain information in an organized manner. 

Below is the scenario I was given to conduct my interview based off of alongside my interview questions. 

 

1. How do you feel about this?

2. What is the goal of this fundraiser? 

3. What are your connections to Jay-Z?

4. How did you get in contact with Jay Z?

5. In what ways has this news impacted your charity?

6. What does this event entail?

7. Has any other celebrities reached out as well?

8. How did Jay Z come to hear about your fundraiser?

9. Who was the magic maker in this arrangement?

10. Is this Jay Z’s first time being involved with this charity? 

11. What is Jay Z’s role in the fundraiser?