Jalolova nigora jalilovna methods of developing communicative competence of the english language in the

WRITING

Features and background stories

Crime reporting can be dull if all you do is record what has happened and when it happened - dull for you and for your readers or listeners. You can add interest for everyone with background reports and features. These can be done when you have some spare time between news stories or while awaiting further developments in continuing cases.
The simplest background stories for crime reporters are general features about crime. By these we mean features (or current affairs programs) on such things as the rise in burglaries; why psychologists think more rapes happen in hot weather; how people can protect their homes from thieves during the holidays; a new course in self-defence for women.
The work of the police often provides material for features. You could, for example, write a feature on a police dog training school; you might want to interview the new police commissioner about his attitude to crime; you could spend a day in the life of the drug squad or the harbour police. All of these will help your readers or listeners to understand crime and the police in context in society.
A word of warning here: you may also want to write a feature by spending a day with a criminal gang. Remember two things: (a) you could be in danger in their hands and (b) you could be breaking the law by accompanying them on a job. We discuss the ethics of this shortly.
You can also write background feature about specific cases. Once you have reported about the murder of a lonely widow, you may want to produce a longer, in-depth report about her, interviewing relatives, neighbours, social workers and other elderly people, to discover how she lived and why she died. This helps people to understand their society and maybe avoid similar tragedies.
If someone has been charged with a crime, you will be too limited in what you can say about the crime, the accused or the victim to produce a feature or documentary. This should not, however, stop you preparing material for a special feature or programme, to be run once the trial is over. If the accused is found guilty, your feature can explain all the background to the case and the lives of the victims and the criminal. If a not guilty verdict is reached, you may still be able to write a feature on the angle that the police must keep on looking for the person who actually committed the crime. Because people can be cleared by courts even though they actually committed the crime, you should take advice from your editor and reliable experts before using this angle in a feature.

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