My little brother needs with this:
why can a subtraction problem be rewritten as an addition problem without changing the outcome?
give a real-world scenario where this might be modeled.

It can be done so in simple daily calculations such as calculating how much money you'll have after after you spend some.

$100- $52= $48

and if you switch it into an addition problem you will get

$100+(-52)= $48,

Or you can get  $48 + $52 = $100

The reporter forgot to multiply the decimal by 100, making it 25%