New giving: A taste of Seattle.

When Seattle Times editorial page editor Mindy Cameron mentioned that the "New Philanthropy" would be a seminar topic at the NCEW convention, my first thoughts were: New? What is new?

But then I began to explore, and the more I learned, the more I realized how we as editorial writers and broadcasters are missing out on one of the hottest issues of current times.

More often than not, the coverage of philanthropy has been lame, often limited to annual United Way stories and editorials. We fail to question philanthropy in the way we would question other news issues. And that's not journalism.

This issue's Symposium, "Looking the Gift Horse in the Mouth," is a challenge to all of us to think differently about philanthropy, new and old. These articles are a tease for the Seattle convention, September 13-16. Use the information here to form questions to ask panelists at Friday's session on New Philanthropy. And use it as the basis for post-Seattle editorials or columns.

There is still time to register and join in the group discussion. For details, call NCEW headquarters at 301/984-3015. A preview of the conference agenda is on the Web at www.ncew.org

The face behind the File

Like many of you, I've always wondered how the folks at Editorials on File decide what editorials are included. Inside, Masthead associate editor Paul Hyde profiles the man who makes most of those decisions. Managing editor Oliver Trager reads hundreds of editorials a week, and he's not short on opinion about U.S. opinion writers.

Editorial agendas

For the past few years, the NCEW listserv has been filled with queries at years end about setting a yearly agenda. Many editorial pages do it, but few as well as The Capital Times in Madison, Wis.

Managing editor Phil Haslanger was editorial page editor when he assembled the agenda page. In this issue, he tells how he did it and offers suggestions for others. Now is the time to begin creating an agenda page if you plan to publish one at the first of the year.

An NCEW/SPJ alliance

In a continuation of efforts to reach out to other journalism organizations, NCEW is sponsoring a panel at the national conference of the Society of Professional Journalists in Columbus, Ohio, October 26-28.

A discussion of Elections and Editorials begins at 10:30 a.m. Friday, October 27. Panelists are Peter W. Bronson of The Cincinnati Enquirer, Vanessa J. Gallman of the Lexington Herald-Leader, and Martin D. Gottlieb of the Dayton Daily News.

NCEW president Chuck Stokes will moderate the Friday session.

Friday's lunch will feature a roast of editorial cartoonist Mike Peters of the Dayton Daily News.

SPJ will post plans for other sessions on its Web site (spj.org); they include media law, freedom of information, covering hate crimes, storytelling, and crisis reporting.