Readers appreciate explanations that run whenever the newspaper publishes something that seems intrusive or varies from standard practice.

Chris Peck, editor of The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., recommends anticipating questions and including an explanation in any story that is likely to be controversial.

“Often we have diffused challenges to our credibility or news judgment by explaining in a controversial story the decision-making process that led to that controversial content.” Chris Peck The Spokesman-Review

“Editors at The Spokesman-Review often will include a paragraph or two in controversial stories that detail the thinking and discussion that went on in the newsroom prior to publishing the content that people might find shocking or offensive,” Peck said.

“Often we have diffused challenges to our credibility or news judgment by explaining in a controversial story the decision-making process that led to that controversial content.”

Another way is to anticipate questions and make explanations available to staff members — and not only in the news department — in case the public has questions.

Here’s an example: We are running a front page story and photo on Saturday that some readers may call in about. The story is about a murder investigation in Spokane. This week, police removed human remains from a furnace in the basement of a downtown residential hotel, and they suspect a former manager of the crime.

Q. Why is this Page One news?

This is a story about a crime that’s unusual and horrific: someone who possibly tortured and then killed a woman and possibly more women. It’s a category of crime our city seldom sees, and that’s why it’s on Page One.

This crime also is news because the person the police apparently are investigating is a sex offender. For the past year, this newspaper has written about the high number of ex-felons living in Spokane; we have questioned their supervision and whether they make Spokane a more dangerous place to live.

Q. Why run the picture of the furnace?

This is a straightforward picture of the crime scene that we think shows readers what police are checking out. We did not go there on our own; police escorted the media through the hotel basement. The photo does not show any human remains.

The picture and the story give readers a complete report of what is going on with this crime.

Q. Why don’t you put good news on Page One?

We specifically selected two stories that celebrate human achievement, and can be good news, for Page One: the story about Wayne Gretzky retiring and a profile of a graduate student at WSU.