Feature Intros

1. Ian Reeves Feature Intros

2. Intros: an infinite variety • The intro is the feature’s single most important paragraph. It establishes the tone and voice of the writer; sets the scene for the reader; and, hopefully, compels them to go deeper. There are an infinite number of ways to begin a feature, which is part of their great appeal. Yet we can define some very broad categories.

3. The news intro • London Evening Standard (23 February 2000) Acquaintance rape is Britain’s fastest growing crime, according to recent Home Office research. But the rising figures could well be the tip of an iceberg, women’s groups believe, because many such attacks – where the woman knows, no matter how briefly, her attacker – go unreported.

4. The eyewitness intro • Gaith Abdul-Ahad, The Guardian. 26 August 2012: The rusting green Mercedes truck could have been mistaken for a removal lorry. It was parked in a narrow street outside a luxurious villa a short distance from the Turkish border, and the arms and legs of chairs and tables protruded from the tarpaulin that covered the back. Beneath the furniture, however, were 450,000 rounds of ammunition and hundreds of rocket-propelled grenades destined for the Syrian rebels in Aleppo.

5. The case study intro • Tom Parry, Daily Mirror (20 March 2012) HANDS clasped together in prayer, Kyoko Sato wipes away a tear for her best friend – one of 74 pupils at Okawa Elementary School killed by the tsunami. The 12-year-old trembles as she stands before a shrine by the crumpled building where she has just placed a symbolic stick of incense. This is her weekly pilgrimage for her pal Airi, who was 11 when she was washed away by the tidal wave.

6. The scene-setting intro • Peter Campbell, Daily Mail, June 12 2014 THE view from Gavin Patterson’s office is quite something. From one window the majestic dome of St Paul’s Cathedral looms, a vista so ingrained in the country’s heritage it is legally protected. Out of the next pane the skyline is dominated by the Shard, a towering reminder of the changing face of the capital and dominance of new money. It is not a bad metaphor for the situation facing BT.

7. The quote intro From The Observer, March 2004 “There’s no Pakis round here,” spat the teenager. “This is a white town.” The youngster was right: Llandudno’s Asian community was nowhere to be seen. Inside the pubs of Mostyn Street, the patrons are exclusively white. So, too, are those flitting among its string of shops. Maybe this is what drew PC Rob Pulling to the popular Edwardian seaside resort, a place he felt his hateful intolerance could be shared without reproach.

8. Historical background intro • Paddy Shennan, the Liverpool Echo (12 September 2012) APRIL 15, 1989 to September 12, 2012. Twenty-three years, four months and 28 days. It’s a scandal that it has taken this long to get to this point but, of course, the Hillsborough families and survivors know all about scandals. And cover- ups. And a lack of accountability. And the denial of justice. Today though, the covers were off with hundreds of thousands of documents having been dusted down and distilled into a near 400-page report.

9. Striking contrasts intro • Alfred Hickling , The Guardian (31 March 2003) The south-Leeds suburb of Beeston is barely a mile from West Yorkshire Playhouse but it may as well be in another country. Situated on a windy hill overlooking Leeds United football ground, Beeston is one of the city’s most deprived urban areas. Its most famous landmark is the desecrated graveyard featured in Tony Harrison’s poem V. Many of the red-brick terraces are boarded up and abandoned; the only business that seems to be thriving is the bookies. Nobody from Beeston ever goes to the Playhouse, including, until recently, the 32-year-old writer Mark Catley

10. The personalised intro • Joshi Herrman, Evening Standard (11 July 2012): Twenty minutes into my visit to Saint Hill Manor last week, a Georgian house on the edge of east Grinstead and about an hour on the train from Victoria, a uniformed man with a dog approached me, and he wanted to check a few things. “You are a Scientologist?” he asked, with a Polish intonation. “No, I’m just having a look around.” “So you are a guest,” he said. “We like to know who is here.”

11. The question intro • Tanya Gold , TheSunday Times Magazine (25 March 2012) What happens when money runs out, Mother, and bills are unpaid? The bailiffs come and take your stuff, child. Every year bailiffs collect £600m in debts in Britain. They are the first to see when banks stop lending; the first to see the recession roll in. They are the monsters that haunt the nightmares of a consumer society and, because I am always intrigued by those who are mysterious, I ask Marston, the biggest bailiff company in England, if I can follow its officers for a week and observe our bonfire of the vanities.

12. The narrative intro • Gareth Davies, Croydon Advertiser , August 2012 Binu Mathew had been pinned against his shop window and repeatedly punched in the face in front of his terrified wife, then looked on helplessly as hooded youths destroyed the business they bought with their savings. But as the couple fled down London Road in their van, Mr Mathew, blood pouring from his face and his shirt ripped from his back, did something almost unbelievable. In the middle of a full scale riot, surrounded by hundreds of menacing figures breaking into businesses and attacking people on sight, he stopped at a red light.