Explainers

A news story that explains a complex subject to readers. For example, government credit rating, municipal bonds, or how the internet work (not a series of tubes invented by Al Gore).


Here's the definition from Don Murray:

News room jargon for stories that attempt to go further back and further forward than the conventional news story, explaining the meaning of a story for the reader.

Examples of explainers in the news:

• "The Case Against Harvey Weinstein, Explained" by By Al Baker and James C. McKinley Jr. at the The New York Times.
• "This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see" by Christopher Ingraham at The Washington Post.
• "Why the Supreme Court changed America’s betting rules" at The Economist, a snobby British weekly.