Chronology with meaning.
Soap operas have it, and so do daily newspapers.
When an editor moves a story, the word story refers to a particular piece of copy. But when we talk about the Watergate story we mean the whole 19 acts. When a good reporter sits down to write, the first task is to place the daily story in the context of the overarching social narrative. Presumably, the reader is aware of that narrative, and the hard news story can therefore plug directly into it. But our standard techniques fail us when the overarching narrative isn t there, or when it s wrong, or when it s too shallow.