A news explainer answers the questions a headline leaves out. It is not a longer headline, and it is not a opinion column. It is a structured attempt to help a reader understand a subject, a decision, or a recurring issue.
Not the same as breaking news
Breaking news tells you what just happened. An explainer tells you what led to it, who is involved, what the key terms mean, and what to watch next. Breaking news can be fast and incomplete. An explainer should be slower and more careful.
Not the same as opinion
An explainer can make judgments about what is important, but it should not tell you what to think. It should show its evidence, identify uncertainty, and distinguish between confirmed facts and interpretation. Opinion is clearly labelled separately.
What goes into an explainer
- A clear question or subject, stated near the top.
- The background a new reader needs.
- The main facts, with sources where possible.
- The strongest counterarguments or unresolved questions.
- What is known, what is not known, and what happens next.
Why they matter
Readers often meet a subject in the middle of a long story. They may know the latest headline but not the history, the institutions, or the language used to describe it. A good explainer gives them enough context to follow the next development without pretending the subject is simpler than it is.
Explainers are also useful when a story keeps returning. Instead of repeating the same background in every report, we can link to one clear explanation and update it when the facts change.
What an explainer is not
It is not a place to hide a lack of evidence behind confident language. It is not a summary of everything ever written about a topic. And it is not a substitute for original reporting when original reporting is needed.
This explainer describes a form of journalism. It does not report on a specific event or make a factual claim about a current dispute.
If you have a question you would like us to explain, send it to contact@lidnews24.com.