Hey! In this context, "plug" means something like "connect". "To plug" something may mean "to connect" something. If you plug a cable somewhere, you connect the cable. In this case, it means that the journalists learn to see the world through those standard templates and then they "connect" each day event to these templates. In fact, it means that they take those templates and they base their news on them - it helps them making the news easier to understand. This takes me to the next thing you asked. The sentence "(...)provides a backbone and a ready-made narrative structure for *otherwise* confusing news" means that these templates to which they plug or connect each day´s event make it easier to understand news that without the templates would be hard to understand, or confusing. Otherwise means something like "if it wasn't like this" or "in another way". In this case it substitutes the longer sentence "that without the templates". I hope you understood it a little :D

In this context, 'plug' means to type/write the events onto the template. They use a standard template to write all different types of news. 'In other words, there is a conventional story line in the newsroom culture that provides a backbone and a ready-made narrative structure for *otherwise* confusing news.' Here they are saying that the 'conventional story line in the newsroom culture has a structure' that stops the news being confusing.

The definition of Plug (verb) means to fill in. Don't confuse it for Plug (noun) which is a device or something solid to fill in a hole of some sort, like an electric plug for example. "Most journalists learn to see the world through a set of standard templates into which they *plug* each day’s events." This sentence means that journalists learn to make standard templates in which they fill in/insert (plug into) each day's events. Basically, filling the blanks. -------------------------------------------------------------- "... backbone and a ready-made narrative structure for *otherwise* confusing news." This is a more complex sentence and so is the use of the word "otherwise." To simplify the sentence let's rearrange it. "... a ready-made narrative structure for news, that would be confusing otherwise" Meaning that if the mentioned criteria is not met (in this case, if that structure is not used), it would be confusing. Hope that helps.

"plug" here means insert in a mechanical way. The real news is like the plugs. The sockets for the plugs are like the journalists' templates. The sockets come in standard sizes and are not big enough to fit every kind of plug. Journalists don't have time or energy to make a good socket for every plug. So when an unusual plug arrives, they put it into one of their pre-prepared sockets, even if the fit is very uncomfortable. The result is a bad connection i.e. a news story which is not accurately or fairly presented.

Thank you all. I understand it now. It took me long to get their meanings.