Imagine a commuter whose bus route may be cut. At bedtime she checks the same local-news story again. The proposal has not changed; neither has the date of the vote. She is trying to work out whether there is something she must do tomorrow.

Three visits can look better than one. They may also mean that the first two failed to answer her question.

Now imagine an article that makes the situation legible: what has been proposed, what remains undecided, when the decision comes, and what she can do before then. She reads it once and puts the phone down.