In this issue of TIME you will find a section devoted to the Pacific Northwest and its immense water power projects on the Columbia River. This is a special kind of news story which the editors have turned to more and more during the last year.

In terms of immediacy of interest most of TIME'S news subjects are precisely the same as those that confront all U.S. editors: Senator McCarthy's hunt for Communists, the Cold War, the flying saucer legends, the pensions strike at Chrysler, the shooting of Charlie Binaggio, the high level of steel production, etc. Most of TIME'S stories, like most newspaper stories, concern spot news.

Some facts, of course can be told an hour after the event just as well as they will ever be told. If the reader wants to know who won the third race at Belmont and what he paid, TIME can't help him --although it might be of use to a reader who wants to know how the race was run and why the winner paid so much, or so little. Other facts cannot be told until long after the event began. They offer no dramatic turn in the news every week, and so are likely to be ignored. They do, however, form a continuing news story which at some point can be put in its proper perspective.

Land of the Big Blue River in this issue is such a story. Grand Coulee Dam has been abuilding for 17 years, and TIME has reported on it from time to time. "Now Grand Coulee and the whole Columbia River power system have begun to change the face of the Northwest, and the editors thought that this was the proper time to show you its new face -- in words, pictures and map. It takes time and space to tell this story, and that is what the special section provides. It is for the news of the times rather than the week's spot news.

During the last year there have been other stories that demanded such treatment. One examined the progress of color television (Nov. 28). Another, which broke new ground, was Report on Yugoslavia in the Jan. 30 issue.

Up to that time the editors had been reporting the cold war between Stalin and Tito as it developed from week to week. Some Americans had begun to assume that Tito, since he was (in a way) a political ally, was moving toward a more democratic regime. The editors decided to send one of our most experienced European political correspondents to Yugoslavia to find out what Tito's regime was really like. His comprehensive report demonstrated that in its way Yugoslavia is as much a Communist police state as Russia.

The problem of "free" versus "socialized" medicine was another story which had been frequently reported in the week's news. The editors decided it was time for a summing up. They decided to find out whether a mandatory Government health plan is necessary. How many people in the U.S. are already covered by voluntary health plans? How many are not? How did the voluntary plans work? The result appeared in a special section called The Price of Health: Two Ways to Pay It (TIME, Feb. 20).

Other stories from the news of the times that the editors singled out for special treatment were The Defense of Europe (April 10) and The Voice of America: What It Tells the World (May 1). The former examined the ability of Western Europe to defend itself against a Russian attack and found that Western Europe's defense was largely a bluff. The latter told what the Voice of America broadcasts were doing to combat Russian propaganda and advance America's cause among the world's peoples.

These stories which, like TIME'S cover stories, get behind and beyond the spot news of the week will be continued. Soon to be published: a report on old age pensions, one of the most difficult and controversial problems now facing the U.S.

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