Features
I-90 tunnel collapse: an infrastructure failure briefing
An infrastructure failure background briefing on Boston’s I-90 tunnel collapse: the NTSB’s cause finding, key project parties, and what its record establishes.
Contributor
Lucas A. Morgan
Lucas A. Morgan is the editorial byline assigned to this area. Subject: Explanatory News and Background Briefings: info, news, blaze. Practical guides, comparisons and the questions behind a choice form this editorial remit. Readers should be able to see where a conclusion depends on an assumption. This is an editorial pen name used by the publication, not a claim of an independently verified personal identity.
Maintenance
8 things a background briefing checklist has to cover
Background briefing checklist for scope, source support, chronology, institutions, definitions, data, visuals, attribution, uncertainty, updates, and final review.
Guides
How to build an explanatory package without repeating one article nine times
Explanatory news package workflow for defining the audience, assigning components, checking evidence, coordinating visuals, editing, publishing, and updating.
Rules
Crisis reporting problems: why rumors and totals mislead
Crisis reporting problems, from recycled video and duplicate totals to stale evacuation orders and false precision, plus the fixes newsrooms can apply.
Guides
How to read an emergency alert as a reporter
How to read an emergency alert as a reporter: verify the issuing authority, message type, boundaries, timing, protective action, routes, and updates.
Maintenance
Business economic claim checklist: verify the math
The business economic claim checklist checks U.S. data, company filings, arithmetic tie-outs, forecasts, revisions, and market claims.
Guides
Canadian Dental Care Plan Eligibility: Proof of Coverage You Must Show
Canadian Dental Care Plan eligibility proof of coverage: what applicants provide, the four rules, and the proof you show in a review and at the dentist.
Reviews
Economic indicators compared, from jobs numbers to market prices
Economic indicators compared across output, income, prices, jobs, unemployment, wages, retail sales, and markets, with reporting uses and limits.
Guides
City Emergency Declaration Powers: Duration and Oversight
City emergency declaration powers vary by state. See how Texas, California, and New York let mayors and councils declare, extend, and end local orders.
Guides
How Provincial Dental Coverage Affects Canadian Dental Care Plan Eligibility
Provincial dental programs can disqualify you under Canadian Dental Care Plan eligibility by province rules, so the same income can give different answers.
Maintenance
Health claim checklist: relative risk and the headline warning
Health and science claim checklist for checking evidence, risk numbers, study populations, conflicts, uncertainty, practical advice, headlines, and updates.
Guides
Canadian Dental Care Plan Eligibility: Who Qualifies
Canadian Dental Care Plan eligibility requires family net income under $90,000 and no private dental coverage, with co-payments based on income.
Guides
PACER Docket Search: Fees, Exemptions, and How to Avoid Overpaying
PACER docket search fees are $0.10 a page, capped at $3 per document; quarters at $30 or less are waived, and courts can grant exemptions on request.
Guides
How to Read a City Council Agenda: A Quick Framework
Learn how to read a city council agenda by checking consent items, staff backup, meeting minutes, and your city's public-comment procedures.
Rules
What Can a State Public Health Order Actually Do? Scope, Expiration, Enforcement
State public health order powers vary by state and can quarantine, close businesses, or require vaccination. Check expiration dates, enforcement, and current status.
Guides
How to Track a Federal Bill in Congress: Status, Committee, and Floor Timeline
Track a federal bill through Congress.gov: status codes, committee referral, markup, and floor scheduling, with the real wait times at each stage.
Guides
How BLS employment data is built, from the household survey to the payroll count
BLS employment data comes from two surveys, the household Current Population Survey and the payroll Current Employment Statistics count, so the numbers can diverge.
Guides
Chicago inspector general audits: How the process works
Chicago inspector general audits move from complaint screening and scope memos through fieldwork, agency responses, publication, and follow-up.
Features
How ERCOT grid rules Texas set wholesale power prices
ERCOT grid rules Texas shape power prices through scarcity pricing, operating reserves, and an offer cap the PUC writes, as Winter Storm Uri showed.
Guides
SEC filings explained for readers who only see the headline number
SEC filings explained: how to read a 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and a proxy statement, find risk factors, and interpret insider Form 4 filings on EDGAR.
Features
Washington State Climate Laws Carbon Market Basics
Washington state climate laws carbon market basics explain the Climate Commitment Act, its auctions, illustrative fuel math, and where to check dated results.
Features
Trump's immunity ruling: a court docket desk case
Trump's immunity ruling anchors this court docket desk case, explaining the charges, the Supreme Court's remand, and the later dismissal.
Rules
Policy reporting problems: 8 errors and how to fix them
Policy reporting problems and fixes, from proposals called law and muddled dates to funding, contracts, comment counts, outputs, indicators, and causation.
Rules
Statistics reporting problems: nine traps in the numbers
Statistics reporting problems in the news, from hidden denominators and sampling error to chart scales and data revisions, with a repair sequence for each.
Guides
Build a news timeline: the Dobbs opinion
Build a news timeline using the Dobbs opinion as a case study: separate the leaked draft's date, its public release, and the Court's final ruling.
Reviews
Court documents compared: pleadings, rulings, and proof
Court documents compared: learn what complaints, indictments, motions, exhibits, orders, opinions, verdicts, and appeals establish—and what they do not.
Guides
Court reporting: separate the docket from the story
Court reporting guide: build a case identity box, read the docket, separate filings from court action, and read a ruling in five parts.
Maintenance
Court story checklist: sealing, redaction, and protected names
Court story checklist for privacy: what sealing and protective orders mean, which federal rules limit identifiers, and how to handle minors, victims and jurors.
Maintenance
Developing story checklist: fairness, harm, and the final read
Developing story context checklist for facts, attribution, chronology, definitions, affected people, uncertainty, fairness, corrections, and updates.
Reviews
6 points worth checking on news briefing formats
News briefing formats checked against six points: main question, time frame, core evidence, typical order, update trigger, and main risk.
Reviews
Proposals vs decisions vs data releases, official records compared plainly
Official record types compared by purpose, authority, version, evidence, common misreading, update pattern, and the claims each document can support.
Reviews
Point estimates vs margins vs averages, reading poll numbers right
Poll estimates compared across point results, sampling margins, credibility intervals, polling averages, forecasts, assumptions, and safe reporting language.
Maintenance
Public records request checklist: scope, exemptions, appeals
A public records request checklist: how to scope a request, read the exemption markings in the response letter, and choose between an appeal and mediation.
Guides
How to read a public opinion poll before reporting: sponsor, sample, wording, uncertainty
A step by step guide to reading a public opinion poll before reporting: sponsor, population, sample, wording, field dates, weighting, uncertainty, and comparison.
Maintenance
9 statistical claim checks before signing off
Statistical claim checklist for source, measure, sample, denominator, uncertainty, comparison, chart, causation, subgroup, revision, and headline checks.
Guides
Statistics and polls reporting: Explain uncertainty
Statistics and polls reporting can explain uncertainty without a lecture: label the figure, check methods and comparisons, and use plain language.