The world today is of innovation and creativity.  Splashes of genius of the most obvious strike us every now and the n and make us smack our head at the sheer wonder of it. Innovation is again nothing but application of our well preserved common sense in uncommon situations to solve quite ordinary problems.

Creativity today is a shining presence in all fields- fright from something as boring as Human Resource Management to Grafitii on walls. It is just the courage to express ones thoughts.

Advertising is one such expression of creativity. By definition advertising is a paid persuasive means of communication  through certain media sponsored by an identifiable client to express a message that the client wishes to convey.

The advertising agency is not only about ideators but also include photographers, creative people,  web developers, digital network bureaus,  colour film separators, visual film production houses, as also others who assist in the advertising agencies . the whole network further includes media buying agencies, media planning agencies and research organizations.

Advertising can be targeted  at the local, national and even at  the global level.

At the local level, advertising has a vast scope in its many forms. Newer developments in this sphere are coming up daily. Nowadays, retail advertising is in the most popular list. Many businesses besides retail stores use local advertising: banks, real estate developers, radio and TV stations, local politicians, etc.  Product advertising , promotes a specific product or service and stimulates short term action while building awareness of the business. The 3 major types are:

• Regular Price Line
• Sale Advertising
• Clearance Advertising

There are also adverts and classified advertising – to recruit employees or rent space.

The most common media used in advertising are

• Print
• Electronic
• Ooh
• Internet
• Mobile
• Direct mail

Advertising today is not constrained to a specific place per se. it has spread boundaries and has become largely www.com dominated . as such, pay per click advertising, flash advertising as pop ups and similar kinds in all social network sites have become increasingly popluar today. This is more an example of cultural transmission due to the forces of globalization in what Samuel Hunter terms as “Clash of Civilizations.”

Advertising on the internet has grown by leaps and bounds and in these difficult times, it is emerging as the best way to market products at cheap costs to a larger, targeted audience.

The age of the Internet is just beginning. The means of accessing the power of the Internet are few and increasing. Online advertising involves the use of the Internet for marketing products online.  According to Nielsen Net Ratings Internet Penetration as in 2008 is 21.9% and in the last eight years of the 21st century it has achieved a cumulative usage growth of 305.5%. This indicates the staggering growth that would be achieved in the years to come in terms of growing the user base of the Internet and hence the market for online advertising.

One advantage of online advertising is that the advertiser can actually select his target audience and show ads to the relevant users. This is demonstrated by Google in their advertising mechanism wherein the user is shown ads related to the topic of his search.

Also in online advertising, response to brand communication is instantaneous and conversion to business is also very high. This is because compared to conventional advertising, like television and radio, in online advertising the viewer decides to see the commercial. Because of this online advertising is not only cheaper for the advertiser but also yields richer dividends.

The comfort and ease offered by online transactions to the users also lends itself to increasing the scope of advertising on the web.

For the advertisers too, online advertising is a much better deal as compared to the conventional modes of advertising. They can actually advertise for small amounts of money also and yet reach out to their targeted audience. Whereas,  as far as conventional advertising is concerned, it is far too expensive and ineffectual for the small and medium sized businesses.

Barack Obama’s victory in the general elections was attributed to his tremendous fundraising success, most of which was through donations made on the Internet. The only concerns for advertising on the web are slow speed internet and information security issues. Yet it  cannot be denied that the Internet and the scope for online advertising are both increasing exponentially.

Apart from the internet, there  have been very new and creative innovations in the sphere of outdoor advertising and even mobile advertising. Mobile advertising in  fact  is  being  touted as the next biggest thing to hit India.   In Mobile In-Game Advertising service, the user expose to truly non-intrusive ads, which are dynamically embedded and changed within the game. The mobile in-game advertisements are targeted and segmented in real time according to users’ behavior.

Thus the sphere and scope of advertising is almost increasing daily.  With the progress of science and technology and the launch of newer gadgets almost an everyday occurrence, for instance the i-pad recently,  the  whole gamut of advertising has become a global phenomenon, transcending the  spatio-temporal dimension to a realm of the cyber age mainly and beyond. Henceforth, there have been a constant proliferation of the portfolio and the career choices. Life in the fast lane of the advertising world is thus streamlined no more.

News reporting

From being nothing more than a channel of diffusion of information, to being an all-encompassing amalgamation of media that touches practically every aspect of our day-to-day life, journalism has indeed come a very long way. Gone are the days when the sole purpose of journalism was transmission of data to its audience: today, a journalist must also know how to educate, influence, and also entertain, if the reader and readership are to be retained. In today’s dog-eats-dog world, it is but natural for every media house to aspire for the highest level of reader interest, and in the process, sensationalisation and hyping up of news have become commonplace. At the same time, every journalist tries to present his news piece that will make the reader want to stay put in his place, and want to know what comes next. It is this very fundamental concept of Journalism that is at the heart of what is commonly known as the “5 W’s and 1 H” in journalism terminology.

The writing of a news story has to be such that 3 basic points are taken care of:

• The reader’s questions must be answered straightaway.

• The reader must have the liberty to choose what and how much he wants to read.

• The reader must be able find out ‘what has happened’ even if he does not have the time or the inclination to go through the entire article.

The above points clearly highlight the basic tenets that a journalist has to keep in mind while framing a story, and accordingly, the article should be one that shall not only provide the basic information required at the very first go, it shall also be so constructed that after having procured the information that he desired, the reader is free to make a move at any point of time. Therefore, it is considered imperative to try and answer as many of the reader’s questions as possible in the first paragraph itself. This is known as the lead of the story. The lead of the story is its most pertinent part, since it provides an insight into what is coming up, and tells the reader what to expect. It is also that section that provides a basic outline of the entire story, and should therefore have the capacity to satiate the reader’s initial curiosity. This is why the need to apply the concept of the 5 W’s and 1 H arises.

The 5 W’s and the 1 H are the following:

•           Who (did it?)

•           What (happened/took place?)

•           When (did it take place?)

•           Where (did it take place?)

•           Why (did it take place?)

•           How (did it take place?)

It should be remembered that every story has one ‘key idea’. This should be introduced first in the article, and the answers to the above-mentioned 5 W’s and 1 H should follow immediately. It is to be remembered though that it is not obligatory to answer each and every one of these questions in the first paragraph itself, as it might lead to clutter. In such circumstances, the ideal would be to answer the most pivotal 2-3 questions in the lead, only to be followed up immediately in the next paragraph with the remaining answers.

“In any news article, the news is revealed thrice: in the headline, then in the lead, and finally in the body of the article”.

The above statement makes it very clear that the reader has three different options as to how he wishes to imbibe the story, and at the end, he indeed takes it in three times. This is makes it all the more important to write the news feature that will enable the reader to quickly glance through whatever he feels is important, and easily omit the rest. The inverted pyramid style of writing serves precisely the same purpose.

It is very easy to understand the logic behind the inverted pyramid structure: in terms of information, it is top-heavy. This is so that the reader’s curiosity can be satiated right away. This style of writing ensures that the information dissemination happens efficiently in the beginning itself. It also has another major advantage: it separates the truly interested readers from the ones who are just taking a cursory glance. So those that are reading the piece just to have an aerial view of what happened can afford to move on after the lead, as almost everything important has been revealed by then. And if the reader is one who wishes to know the whole story, he can conveniently continue reading beyond the lead. There is another major advantage too: if the news piece is to be altered in the editing room, then it is all the more easy for the editor to cut the story off from the tail-end: it may not be possible to chop in a similar way, a story that presents facts in increasing order of importance, or even maintains neutrality of importance.

It is estimated that almost 95% of the world’s stories can be written in the inverted pyramid style. This makes it very easy for the news writer to keep all types of readers happy.

Leads and Intros:

Most news stories are told in a logical order. This means that the most important fact appears in the lead, regardless of its place in the time sequence involved.  Thereafter, the facts are arranged more or less in order of descending importance.

Editors prefer stories using logical organization because they take fewer words and therefore less space and they are more easily trimmed when space is limited. Further, logical organization best serves the busy reader: it tells what he most wants to know right at the beginning.

Logical organization consists of two main parts: lead (also referred to as intros) and body.

The lead makes the point, and the body supports it with solid, factual and concrete information. Since getting attention is the first step, editors put a premium on striking leads. Any device that will make the reader look twice— direct address, a colourful quotation, a question or even a verse— is considered legitimate as long as it doesn’t misrepresent the facts, violate the tone, or distort the overall meaning of the story.

The lead, or intro, establishes the point, the thrust, the basis and the essence of the news or feature at the beginning. In short, the first few sentences in any article or report are critical. Each one must be provocative and compel the reader to continue reading. Without such a hook, or “lead,” one risks losing the reader.

Different types of Leads and Intros:

Informative leads: These leads provide information in a nutshell by addressing the 5Ws and 1H.

Question leads: These leads use the first sentence of an article to answer one of the “w” questions in journalism, who, what, when, where and why. Another question is how, and question leads can use this too. Basically you use the lead to answer one question to make the reader wonder the answers to the rest.

Summary leads: This kind of lead is mostly used in news stories because of the fact that news stories need to be concise, to the point and put the most information into the least amount of words. That’s why with summary leads you summarize the entire article in the lead, or in other words, put the most important piece of information into the first sentence and go from there.

Blind leads: This is a lead where you start off the article by summarizing but leaving out one essential detail, this is done to catch the interest of the reader. As journalists you want people to read and be interested in your work, and in feature writing especially confusing the reader in the beginning is sometimes a very good way to catch their interest. Right after a blind lead you have to clarify the missing piece of info though.

Narrative leads: These leads are another feature type that actually takes you into the mind of the main person in an article. Narrative leads tell a story from a person’s specific perspective; it’s the most classic and in some instances most effective way to start out a feature. Pick a person and start your article out with their story and tie it into the main point.

Quote leads: This is a lead where you start off the article with a quote that expresses the idea you want to get across well. In some newsrooms quote leads are banned because finding the perfect quote for an article is a very challenging task that most newspapers do not have the time for. Articles are written fast and frequently, and finding a good lead is essential and needs to be done very quickly.

Feature leads: These leads are a vital part of newspaper writing. The feature lead permits to take a mundane straight news piece and transform it into a story that captures the interest and empathy of the readers. Feature leads must fit the mood of the story. If you intend to set a particular mood or point of view in a story, your intent or tone should be set at the beginning of the story.

Authoritative lead: This is a lead where the reporter acts like an authority and incorporates an instructive tone in the lead.

Humorous lead: These leads grip the readers’ attention by invoking humour.

Anecdote lead: These leads are commonly used in features. In such leads, a short narrative or case history is picked for its attention getting quality and its ability to humanize the story. It aptly illustrates the general situation.

Direct Address Lead: A question or a sentence is addressed to the reader as if the writer were directly talking to him to encourage him to read and react to the whole article.

Incident Lead: This lead cites an incident to introduce the topic of the article. The incident may be real or fictitious, unlike the news summary lead which should be factual.

Descriptive Lead: This type of lead uses vivid description to hook the reader to finish the article. This type is best used for travelogues and personality sketches.

Staccato Lead: This type uses a series of phrases or sentences that produce a rhythm. It is another dramatic way of introducing the topic of the feature article.

Do’s:

—Be specific and concrete, give a picture.

— Convey energy and action.

Don’ts’:

— Too much secondary detail

— Abstract and general language

— Vagueness

Its always hard to draw the line between what is necessary or what is unnecessary. The definition of such varies. The distinction thus remains subjective.

For a media student, the options are unlimited. It all depends on how creative the mind is.

All media students are at the end of the day have the power of knowledge via the internet within their reach. The internet thus offers the gamut of options. Some may want to try out a new gadget that people are talking about. The word of mouth tactics would definitely spur the curious minded lot to try and explore anything new. Hence the credit card and the mobile phone bills spent in ordering online stuffs.

Endless cups of coffee. O yes. Money spinning concoction. Bad food, unnecessary cravings lead to binge eating and well- a hole in the pocket.

There are many compassionate students amongst us who love treating stray dogs and cats. No matter the cost, they always find a way to buy that packet of Pedigree or simply Parle- G to make the dog woof happily.

Girls end up spending a lot on accessorizing their clothes collection –  as if clothes and more clothes don’t already cost the earth.

Brands- the butcher of innocent minds and a pocket burner. The addiction to buying only brands for these students (for status or genuine brand loyalty). Kids today eat breathe talk brands. Brands are the conversation starters and the pointers. Without wearing the expensive brands, they feel incomplete.

In this post modern health conscious age, many choose the short cut way to success. Liposuction, cosmetic surgery here and there- naturally diminish funds. The parlour bills for both men and women today turn out to be the retailer’s glee.

Many live alone. Most are careless. Hence the high electricity bills as they happily wade out in their expensive gear leaving lights fans on.

Again, the media students are also guilty of buying unnecessary books. The books cost tremendously. Yet they must buy. They might as well try the cheaper option of reading them online.

There are thus many avenues for spending unnecessarily. The mind thus needs to be receptive, spontaneous and malleable at the same time to cross the self defined boundary between real and unnecessary.

Difference between writing and editing

To be effective editors must understand the difference between writing and editing. On one level, the difference between writing and editing is simple: writing produces the words in a document, and editing changes them.

Editing a report

The final stage in the process of writing a report is editing and this stage is a significant one. Thorough editing helps to identify:

• spelling mistakes;
• awkward grammar;
• breakdowns in the logic of the report’s organisation or conclusion;
• if you have really fulfilled the requirements of the report and answered all parts of the question.

Grammar and punctuation

Every language form has its own conventions and rules. The language used in news writing and reporting similarly has some conventions and rules that differ somewhat from the way things are done in other varieties or dialects of the language.

Some of the common grammatical problems of news writing are:

Word order:  The words in English sentences are arranged in a consistent manner. In the most common sentence structure, we find nouns first, verbs second and another noun after the verb: the familiar arrangement of subject + verb + direct object, like this:

Example- Subject- The President , Verb- addressed, Direct Object: The Congress

Normal word order: This word order has distinct advantages in communicating, because it is normal, usual and familiar. Listeners or readers encountering a noun/subject are able, because they recognise familiar word order, to know what is coming. Because sentences are put together in this way are straightforward, simple and understandable, they are commonly used in news writing. If we study the front page of almost any newspaper, we will find that probably four out of five news stories begin with sentences that consist of a subject + verb + direct object order. Beginners too should follow this pattern and strive for clarity and conciseness.

Special effects: Occasionally, for effects, we change things around and arrange words in a way that is a little out of the ordinary. We change emphasis and with it some elements of meaning.

Putting the adjective at the beginning instead of at the end of the sentence has the effect of emphasizing the key word, rare. Note the difference when the sentence is restructured and its elements put in normal word order:

Obviously the opportunity to use this kind of sentence, and make sense, doesn’t come along every day. But there are occasions when a shift in normal word order can be useful.

List of names: Newspapers frequently have to publish lists of names in news stories: names of dead and injured in accidents, names of people elected to office, names of people competing in various events, names of people charged with crimes. A useful journalistic device is a reversal of normal word order.

Few readers would wade through that list of names if it preceded the verb-as it should in normal word order. In presenting lists of names, a non-normal order works best. Many newspapers, including some of the most carefully edited, accept these inverted constructions. Other newspapers prefer normal word order and introduce lists of names like this:

Those charged with murder today are…..

The dead are…

Sequence of Tenses:

Ordinarily the principal verb in a sentence determines the tense of the verb that follow it. For example:

He tried to do a good job whenever he was asked.

He does whatever he likes.

This is a normal and expected usage. But sometimes strict adherence to normal usage can cause confusion in meaning. For example:

The Governor said that his state was rapidly becoming an urban state.

The sentence is correct if we follow the normal use but with a little reconstruction the sentence would sound more grammatically correct and logical-

The Governor said that his state is rapidly becoming an urban state.

The Passive Voice: The active voice has its place but the passive voice is also highly useful. In the example that follows, the first sentence is in the passive voice, the second in the active voice. Which in this instance is the more usual?

Smith was struck by a pitched ball.

A pitched ball struck Smith.

Clearly, for the subject matter, the first sentence is the more usual it is in the passive voice, a construction that gives the injured player the emphasis. Because the elements closest to the beginning of the sentence get the most attention, the writer had to decide which element to emphasise and then select the grammatical construction that will do the trick.

Placement of modifiers: Although modifiers can be placed either before or after the words they modify, their placement is guided by meaning, not whim. A modifier in the right place means one things. In another it may mean something entirely different.

Right and wrong words: The selection of the right word is very important in news writing. The right word communicates- the wrong word fails to communicate or communicates the wrong message. It may also mark the writer as careless or illiterate or both.

Parallel construction: This device is used a great deal in news writing and is neither mysterious nor difficult to execute. Examples of parallel construction include itemized leads listing dead and injured, lists of itemized names of one kind or another in the body of a news story. For example:

Promotions effective with the beginning of the fall semester:

James Smith, instructor, to assistant professor.

Some common punctuation problems:

Linking punctuation: The colon, the dash, the hyphen and the semicolon are used to link words and parts of sentences.

The colon: It is used to link an introductory statement and a list that follows in a separate paragraph or paragraphs. It also links an introductory statement and a list or itemization of points. It is also used to link an attribution or speech tag to quoted material.

The dash: A single dash is used to connect the main part of a sentence with a subordinate part.

The hyphen: The hyphen is used to link two or more words together, to link numbers and words, to link letters and words and to link prefixes to words.

The comma: The comma is commonly used to separate figures. It is also used to separate words in a series, but in news writing the final comma before and and or is omitted.

The semi-colon: The semi-colon is used to separate the lists to separate items grouped together- for example, in lists that include names, ages, addresses, titles or other descriptive items.

Parentheses: Paired commas or paired dashes can be used to set off parenthetical matter. Parentheses are most used for enclosing and setting off single words, initials or brief interpolations.

To a lay man the term social media is a union of two concepts. One is being ‘social’ and the other is the ‘medium of internet’. Put the two together and you get the idea of ‘socialising through the medium of the internet’. Again, for a layman, this would, to a great extent, be limited to the use of the various social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the likes. And at any cost, he would not think of going beyond the use of Picasa, flicker, and other such photo sharing sites etc., or sharing his life with the rest of the world by uploading videos on YouTube, or blogging, etc.

Then what is ‘Social Media’ to a media student? Actually it is pretty much the same thing that it is to any lay man. And yet it is much more. For, the difference lies not in the form, but in the matter. A lay man has a very limited use for the social media tools available to him. And this does not change for him till he begins to look at it from the bird’s eye point of view. Once he begins to do that, social media’s utility in his life has the potential to grow in leaps and bounds. On the other hand, it is the job of the media student to look at social media from the industry point of view to begin with. Hence the difference between the two is that of their approach to the subject. Therefore what a media students focus, while perusing and pursuing the subject of social media, should be on its optimum utilization, for social media if perhaps the only thing that can come close to his ‘renewable resource’ storehouse for they will exist so long as the internet does and we humans live under democratic conditions.

Now that we have some idea of what social media is about and how important it is to the media sudent, let us now move on to how a media student should use social media.

1. Let us begin with hard hitting but true basics first. User blogging and user generated comments are the best and the worst gift that the invention of social media has given to the rest of the corporate world, both at the same time. Worst because one unsatisfied or unhappy customer now suddenly has the power to turn many potential customers against you just by the click of a button. And best because despite the truth of the previous statement, another aspect of the same truth is that now companies have the power to discover exactly what about their product is not to the customers liking. Also, the social media itself provides them ample opportunity to make amends for their mistakes. Therefore it is imperative for the media student to study the possibilities where such interactions between the buyer and the seller, so to say, take place. And this would indeed be the ideal place for the media student to begin his industry centric approach to the subject of social media.

2. Social media also forms part of the unplanned portion of the Integrated Marketing Communication of the industries everywhere. Here too the CGM or Consumer Generated Media becomes important. Although the CGM is not necessarily negative, yet these are powerful marketing tools that lie in the hand s of the customers. And therefore the media students should be well versed with the Integrated Marketing Communications concepts and its possibilities associated with social media as well.

3. Another important aspect of social media is that of SMO or Social Media Optimization the aim of which is to attract unique visitors to website content with the aim of either website optimization or SEO i.e. Search Engine Optimization. Through these tools social media gets the technology that has the power to put your company or brand ahead of the others. Through its tools like the Search Engine Optimization you can come up with ways and means to ensure that no matter what an existing or potential customer might be looking for it is you (meaning your company or brand) that he will find first. Therefore it is the media students first and foremost task, when dealing with social media, is to become familiar with such tools and concepts as well as their knowhow and basics etc.

4. Ultimately, for a media student, social media is anything and everything that has the power to unite technology with the socializing nature of man in order to produce value of different sorts that is beneficial for the creator of the value as well as the receiver of the value. Its ultimate goal is therefore the interpretation of value perception into value creation for the benefit of all parties concerned. And it is this aspect of social media that indicates the huge potential for growth that it possesses.

Every year we celebrate the Independence day – the day our country was free from foreign rule and dominance. Over the years this day has come to mean a lot to some and not so much to others, who have been born into a new age that has always seen freedom and never revered it. Yet as I think about the word ‘freedom’ and all that it denotes, I am urged to ask the question- how many of us are really ‘free’?

There are so many among us that do an engineering degree solely because their parents want them to, so many who become doctors just because that seemed like the only ‘socially acceptable profession’ at the time. And in all this what we refuse to acknowledge is that slowly, one by one, we choose to give up our freedom, our right to choose. That said and done, I do not propagate a life without direction- here my sole purpose is to bring about some thought in the minds of the reader, about passion.

Passion can be defined as the zeal, energy and fervor that fills us when we do something from the heart. It is something that forces us to do our best even without feeling like a definitive effort is being made to do it. And this is the one thing that is lacking in most professions today- passion, doing something solely for the love of it. For all the people who think that such talk is good in books and articles and doesn’t work in real life, please read on.

There have been many people who have left regular well treaded paths to follow their dreams, and there have been many more who have been successful. If an attempt is made to highlight the many who have not made it far, all I can make of it is that they just didn’t want it that bad. For a life lived with passion and a career fuelled with it can never be incomplete or unfulfilling.

This said and done, I would not want to romanticize the idea of following your dream without highlighting the practical implications associated with it. To follow your dreams, it is important to know exactly what the dream is and what it involves. While it is wonderful to know what one wants to do, without having a fixed plan of how to achieve it, all attempts made are pointless. This more so if the chosen career path is something unconventional which is the case more often than not. An unconventional career path makes it imperative to clearly rationalize the pros and cons associated with following it. This alone can give an individual the idea whether he or she should tread this path or choose to continue in the same path as others follow.

Another aspect of following your passion is to never move away from the original goal in mind. Small successes and failures do not indicate anything as long as you are focused on achieving the bigger aims that have been set for oneself. This works both ways. There can be times when a chosen career path seems fraught with difficulties- in such a situation it is important to persevere and refuse to give up. In the other scenario, there can be chances that one finds quick success, but assuming that it would last and going back on efforts would go nowhere and perseverance and consistency is key in this scenario as well.

At this point I would like to mention that I do not hate day jobs. They are great in their own right as they give an individual a certain amount of security that following a passion or an unconventional choice, might not allow. This ensures that stress levels are lower and can work well for most people. But it has its own share of pit falls and so this is not a case of either or. A day job can also be extremely beneficial in the initial stages when a person is following his or her passion as it can support the person through the struggle period. It lends the required stability and security which can help the person focus on following his or her passion simultaneously, till a point where it can be followed completely.

I have always been influenced by a saying I read about as a child. It went like this-“Find a job you love and you won’t have to work a single day of your life.” I have read many books and met many people after that day, but this saying continues to be a hallmark statement in my life. This is the reason for this article as well. As the very intelligent person who came up with this quote put it, there could be immense stress involved with following your passion in the initial stages, times filled with hard work and extra efforts but once that struggle period has been overcome there is a point from where a job ceases to be just that and becomes an extension of yourself. This I mean in the best way possible. It is a key tenet that should be followed by all those who believe in their passion. I live by it, every single day.

Money for the typical media student is nothing less than freedom. It’s a freedom to explore- to feel- to cherish- to savour-as also a means of self expression. For most students, their parents donate generously to their pocket money funds. The wise ones work and have something to add to their cv-s.

The post modern society of ours thus rests happy offering us a plethora of choices- to soothe our ‘needs’ and  ‘desires’. Economics strictly classifies the two- the former as a means of sustenance and the latter as paying heed to the ‘id’ in us (following the Freudian explanation). The choice between relevance and irrelevance is then a fine line indeed.

How then can the media students distinguish their needs from all that they desire?  What could be the means of luxury to them –  things they splurge on?

There can be no specific list or a charter of items they should pursue being active consumers of. Parameters are quite subjective.

What is the first thing that the media students love to do? Downloading of course. Downloading files, e-books, movies, documentaries, music etc etc etc. the bills are astronomical. Paying for the bills or for the particular downloads can really dent a hole in the pockets of many.

Most media students, however, are still in love with the print media. As such, they do love to spend a lot on books- academic or anything of their passion. The course books do cost a lot. Moreover books today come with a lumpsum price tag attached to them. In this context, various cd-s can also be added to this list. The price these ‘poor’ media students thus pay to enhance their power of knowledge – is quite a big amount indeed.

Many students also love attending lectures/ seminars/ workshops of eminent people. The entry path thus costs. Yet they willingly pay up- no matter the gravity of the amount-simply for their passion.

Some media students, also splurge a lot on clothes etc so as to attend and cover page 3 parties. The future budding journalists definitely are patrons of this category. Its for a job they love.

Some talented students amongst the many splurge yet again, on their musical instruments and their regular repairing. Its their catharsis. Their weapon of choice of self expression. Its how they can connect with their reality. Why should they let themselves be denied of their eros just because of the numerical price figures which deem irrelevant thus, in their world of the highs and lows of musical notations.

Gadgets- the big area of money spinning activities for the media mass. Camera, lenses, filters, as well as pen drives (lots of them if the students are forgetful), hard disks, etc cost the earth. Yet there is no dearth to their need

Of course most lov travelling. No matter the expenses incurred there, the media students would splurge on that anytime of the day- anytime of the year. Seeing new places, interacting with new faces, gaining a wholesome new experience- widens their horizons of thinking and visualization.  Creativity gets an edge thus.

Some also are seen to splurge on subscription to magazines, journals, clubs etc which do reduce their piggy bank levels. Yet one word accounts for all- passion.

Coffee- for dates, for late nights, for burning the midnight lamps stdying for exams, or simply for hanging out together in regular “adda” sessions- are the aphrodisiacs the students happily splurge on.

Yes- there’s also the expenses on print out and Xeroxes to be considered. Assignments or simply to gain more wisdom make these students cough up more.

Sometimes the artists amongst us also have to splurge on arts and crafts artifacts- for example a calligraphy pen. The smiles on the faces- the sheer contentment- is thus no match for the price he/she pays for it.

Again there are many paid sites which the students needs to pay up before accessing. These sites are particularly relevant for the owls among us- the researchers gaining a foothold on secondary research data.

There are also expenses related to purchase of laptops- repairing them, adding features or customizing them.

The last few items the students splurge on are the usual ones- booze, fags, joints, as also their temporary better halves- gf-s/ bf-s

All in all, this article clearly shows that “there’s no free lunch for anyone.”

What is a feature?

A feature story is an article in a newspaper, a magazine, or a news website that is not meant to report breaking news, but to take an in-depth look at a subject. Features are often significantly longer than news articles, are more likely to be written from a personal perspective, and unlike news stories do not always deal with the events of the immediate past.

What is feature writing?

Features are generally written in a different manner than a news stories, sometimes taking several paragraphs to arrive at the main story while trying to engage the reader and keep them reading by employing narrative hooks. Feature stories often delve deeper into their subjects, expanding on the details rather than trying to concentrate on a few important key points. The writing style of the articles can be more colorful and employ a more complex narrative structure, sometimes resembling the style of a nonfiction book more than a news report.

Different kinds of features-

Photo feature

A photo feature is one where more emphasis and importance is given to the photos or pictures. For example a feature on an art exhibition held will definitely require for the photographs of the art work to be shown. The main aim of a photo feature is to basically create a visual impact on the minds of the readers. This makes the reader more involved in what the writer is trying to convey.

News feature

A news feature is basically to inform the reader about actual facts. This feature is not meant to entertain the reader but to inform and educate him. For example a feature on the after effects of the Tsunami will not be meant to entertain the reader but to keep him informed about the problems caused due to the destruction by the Tsunami.

Elements of features

1.    Timeliness: In feature writing, time is of the essence for a good impact. Like news, it helps when features are delivered fresh. No one wants to read features that are mis-timed, nor do we want news that is stale. Readers of newspapers and internet and television viewers respond to mint-fresh features.

2.    Nearness or Proximity: It is a known fact the world over that features and news about close proximity topics are preferred to those from remote locations. It is a natural inclination. Events in close proximity rouse more curiosity and interest in the reader.

3.    Fame or Prominence: Activities and habits of the rich and the famous have always fascinate people. More people will avidly read a feature if it is related (directly or indirectly) to a reigning celebrity in films, television soaps, industry, sports, politics or science.

4.    Conflict and Break-up: Human beings still find delight in other’s quarrels, verbal exchanges and conflicts. Features on angry break-ups and conflict of any sort are widely read.

5.    Love and Romance: Love is also a perennial favourite when it comes to writing features. One can rarely fail with a love story.

6.    Nostalgia: Special occasions, Jubilees, Centenaries, anniversaries, etc. are nostalgic occasions. It reminds the busy world of its own institutions, their key figures, their long-forgotten achievements and the values they stood for.

7.    Human Interest: Ordinary people always wonder how other ordinary folk and celebrities cope with life’s little problems; their personal idiosyncrasies, their rise over hurdles and object poverty. Also, their bravery under pressure, all make for a good read. “Human” includes women, children, pets, and even trees.

8.    Impact on People: How people are affected by new technology and gadgets, new budget measures, or new security issues like cyber-crime, terrorism and global warming and other environment issues, can be covered in features

9.    Oddity or Novelty: People love to read features on the city’s tallest man, or oldest church, child prodigies in chess, a man who picnics in space and why Indians have now more cell-phones than landline relics. Readers love newer, quicker ways of doing old things and the latest and cutest female and fashions.

10. Calamity or Disaster: The disaster in space in the Columbia shuttle, the silent plight of sea-birds in an oil-spill evokes instant sympathy.

11. Celebrity Lifestyle: It is the common man’s obsession these days to gather more of the ways of the world’s rich and famous live, their problems, food tastes, clothes, idiosyncrasies, clubs, private lives and unusual interests. Profiles in Sunday newspapers/magazines, page 3 write-ups and television chat shows depict their opulence, while centrespread pieces define their views on life.

12. New movements: in the past 50 years, 3 international movements have caught out people’s attention – the Consumer Rights stir; the Feminist agitation and Environmental causes. Educated readers keenly want to know about their progress.

These are the elements which make for a good read and interest a reader. It is imperative to engage your reader and cater to the needs of the reader for the feature to be widely read. Understanding the target consumer of the feature is of foremost importance and these elements help in engaging the reader.