News reports present brief write-up son events, issues and people, features present detailed analyses of the same, often in the form of discussions, narratives of critiques. Further, while news reports are written mostly in the inverted pyramid formal structure and style, features follow the structure of essays and discussions, and present a distinct point of view. News reports are written by staff reporters, stringers or correspondents but features are usually contributed by senior reporters, assistant editors, editors, but also by outside experts who may be academics, free-lancers, researchers and others. 

A feature, then, is an essay-like piece written for publication in a news paper or magazine. News reports dominate in a news paper, but in magazines features take up most space. 'Cover stories' in magazines are usually written in the form of features, while in news papers the main or lead story would be written in the form of a news report. News papers do not usually carry features on the front page, except perhaps in the 'anchor' position. Features also figure on the editorial page and on the op-ed page, as well as in the Sunday/weekend magazine supplements.