Chapter 6: Market feature story

Broadcast journalism thrives on capturing audience attention quickly and sustaining their interest throughout a story. In the competitive Kenyan media environment, where numerous radio and TV stations vie for listeners and viewers, crafting effective teasers, blurbs and standfirsts is essential to stand out. These elements act as gateways to the main feature story, setting the tone and enticing the audience to stay engaged. This chapter focuses on the techniques and professional standards required to create these critical introductory components in market feature stories.

6.1 Creating teasers, blurbs and standfirsts

Teasers, blurbs and standfirsts are the short pieces of text that sell a feature before the audience has met it. Each one does a different job in a different place. A teaser is a spoken or on-screen hook that airs before the feature. A blurb is a short description that appears in a programme guide, on a station website or in a social media post. A standfirst is a short introductory paragraph placed under the headline of a written feature, and it is also used on station websites that publish a written version of a broadcast feature. All three must be accurate, short and written for the people who will meet them: a listener in a car, a viewer scrolling on a phone or a reader of the programme guide.

Teasers

A teaser is a brief statement or question that makes the audience want to stay for the feature, without giving away its main finding. Radio and television use teasers before a break, at the end of a bulletin or in the middle of other programmes, and they work because the audience can be held at a moment when it might change channel. A teaser for a feature on a village potter might ask, "Why do buyers now travel to a roadside kiln before dawn?"

Characteristics of effective teasers

• Brevity and clarity: A teaser is read in a few seconds, so it carries one clear idea. A 12-second slot holds about 30 words at a planning pace of 150 words a minute (12 × 2.5 = 30), and the teaser needs fewer than that when a sound or a picture is also used.
• Curiosity: A question or an unfinished statement makes the audience wonder, and the answer is kept for the feature.
• Relevance: The wording relates to a concern of the audience, such as the cost of living or work in the area.
• Emotional appeal: Urgency, surprise or a human detail draws attention, as long as the feeling is real in the feature.
• Honesty: The teaser reflects what the feature contains, because a misleading teaser costs the station its audience's trust.
• Pacing and delivery: On radio and television the presenter's voice is varied in tone and rhythm, so that the hook sounds natural, holds interest and is believed.

Why teasers matter

• Audience retention: A good teaser gives people a reason to stay with the programme and not to change channel.
• Station identity: A recognisable style of teaser helps the audience identify the station and its programmes.
• Distinction from other stations: Creative teasers separate a station's programmes from those of competitors.
• Advertising value: A larger and steadier audience is more attractive to advertisers.
• Preparing the audience: A teaser gives the listener or viewer a first idea of the theme, so that the feature is easier to follow.

Creating a teaser

Writing a teaser starts with the feature, not with the wording. The producer decides which single point will make the audience curious and then writes around it.

1. Read or listen to the finished feature and choose its most interesting point.
2. Decide what will be kept back, so that the teaser raises a question and the feature answers it.
3. Write a draft in spoken language, using short sentences and active verbs.
4. Add a sound or a picture from the feature where the medium allows it, for instance the sound of the kiln door or a shot of wet clay on the wheel.
5. Add the day and time of the programme so that the audience knows when to return.
6. Read the teaser aloud against a stopwatch and cut it to the slot.
7. Check that every claim in the teaser appears in the feature.

Blurbs

A blurb is a short summary that tells the audience what the feature is about and why it is worth their time. It appears where the audience chooses what to watch or listen to: a programme guide, a station website, a podcast listing or a social media post. Because many people read these on a mobile phone, the blurb has to work within a line or two.

Elements of a good blurb

• Conciseness: The blurb gives the essence of the story in a few short sentences, within the space the platform allows.
• Clear focus: It states the central finding or question and leaves out detail.
• Active voice: Active verbs make the blurb direct, for example "A village potter trains four apprentices" instead of "Four apprentices are being trained by a village potter".
• Audience-centred language: It speaks to what the audience cares about, such as skills, income or local change.
• Call to action: It tells the audience when to listen or watch, or where to find the full feature, for example "Hear the full story on Thursday at 8.00 pm."

Blurbs across platforms

• Consistency: The facts, names and spelling are the same on every platform even when the length changes.
• Social media versions: A short version is written for each social platform, for example X (formerly Twitter) or Facebook, and may carry a hashtag and a picture from the feature.
• Programme guide version: A guide entry names the programme, day, time and subject in a sentence or two.
• Website version: The website blurb may be a little longer and link to the audio, video or written version.
• Encouraging conversation: A closing question or a hashtag invites the audience to share and discuss the feature.

Creating a blurb

1. Write the main point of the feature in one sentence.
2. Add the person or place that makes the story concrete.
3. Add the reason it matters to the audience.
4. Add the day, time, channel or link.
5. Cut every word that does not help a reader decide, and check that the sentence is in the active voice.
6. Adapt the length for each platform, keeping the same facts.

Standfirsts

A standfirst is a short paragraph that sits between the headline and the body of a written feature. It is often set in larger or bolder type, and it adds what the headline cannot say: who is involved, what is at stake or why the story matters. It is different from the lead, which is the first paragraph of the body, and from the teaser, which airs before a broadcast. A broadcast station uses standfirsts on its website, in its programme magazine and in the written version of a feature.

Functions of the standfirst

• Bridge from headline to body: The standfirst expands on the headline and prepares the reader for the opening paragraph.
• Extra information: It carries a fact, a name or a place that the short headline has no room for.
• Setting the tone: Its wording tells the reader whether the feature is serious, warm, light or urgent.
• Showing why it matters: It links the story to the reader's own concerns.
• Helping readers choose: A reader who is scanning a page can decide from the headline and standfirst whether to read on.

Techniques for writing a standfirst

• Active, concrete language: The standfirst names who does what, for example "In a roadside kiln, a potter is teaching four young people the trade she learnt as a girl."
• One or two sentences: It is a few lines long, and the body of the feature carries the detail.
• Not a repeat of the headline: It gives new information and does not rephrase the headline in other words.
• Not a copy of the lead: The first sentence of the body takes the story further than the standfirst does.
• Accuracy: Every fact in the standfirst agrees with the body of the feature.

Creating a standfirst

1. Write the headline first and note what it leaves out.
2. List the most useful fact that the headline cannot hold, such as who, where or why now.
3. Draft one or two sentences in plain, active language.
4. Compare the draft with the headline and the opening paragraph and remove any repetition.
5. Check every name, number and place against the finished feature.
6. Read the headline and standfirst together to see whether a reader would want to go on.

Comparing teasers, blurbs and standfirsts

Chapter Summary

This chapter explored the essential elements of crafting market feature stories, beginning with how to create engaging teasers, blurbs, and the standfirsts that capture audience interest immediately. It then examined the development of broadcast feature promotion clips, highlighting techniques to effectively use audio-visual media to attract and retain viewers. The discussion continued with print feature promotion ads, focusing on designing compelling advertisements that draw readers to the full story. Finally, the chapter provided practical exercises on talk shows, emphasizing interactive communication skills to promote features dynamically. Together, these topics equipped learners with a comprehensive understanding of diverse promotional strategies across media platforms. The chapter underscored the importance of tailoring content to different audiences and formats to maximize the impact of market feature stories.