Newspaper reading - a convenient student-centered activity - has become even easier, thanks to the Net. No more newsprint on your fingers. No more articles that don't fit on the copy machine. No more fear of copyright infringement.

And we're not talking just your local paper; we're talking thousands of U.S. and foreign newspapers on the web. Of course, students will immediately head for their own hometown newspaper in their native language. But to keep everyone on track and in English, start the search with the Kidon Media List of English language newspapers both foreign and domestic (see box overleaf).

Once your students find the English edition of their hometown newspaper, have them exploit it. Make it their assignment to write a summary of an event back home. Have each student make an oral presentation followed by a Q&A from the other students. The entire class can write an opinion paper on how the event(s) were interpreted. The students could also create their own web newspaper highlighting the events chosen by the class with the event abstracts and links to other articles on the events.

This activity could be refocused so that students read any foreign newspaper to get a local reaction to an international event. An easy way to research a news article is to use my favorite web metasearch engine (www.dogpile.com) .. (see ALR, Jan/Feb 99, pp. 35-36 for a discussion of Search Engines.) Type in the subject (e.g., Uganda+tourist+gorilla), click on Newswires below the subject line, and dogpile will search through the newswires to get you the latest stories on gorilla trekking in Uganda. As a bonus, the research results will lead you to the web sites of major news organizations like Associated Press, Reuters, Washington Post, BBC, CNN, and others. Bookmark these sites for future reference. Running out of things to do?

Turn your students into web page media critics. Let them compare and contrast the quantity and quality of the stories and services on the web pages of foreign newspapers. Have them design a class newspaper site with the best features of the foreign newspaper sites they visited.

The features on newspaper web sites are more varied than in their print counterparts and often include cultural information.

The Tehran Times goes on the defensive with a photo section on Iranian women. (http://www.salamiran.org/Women/). The Japan Times has a section on Festivals, Museums and Galleries which is a perfect resource for Japanese students preparing an assignment on their country, its culture, and its food.

(http://www.japantimes.co.jp). Web papers like the Hindustani Times help students become familiar with different varieties of English as well as with the best restaurants in New Delhi. (http://www.hindustantimes.com/) Some papers require a subscription. The Kampala Monitor, Uganda (http://www.africanews.com/monitor/) will let you read issues older than six weeks for free. Some sections of the Central Asian Post require a password. Inexplicably, its section on Fish Therapy - Lesson One, was restricted (http://www.bishkek.su/CAP/culture/a16.htm). Since I didn't bother to apply for a password, I'll never know why a fish would need therapy or how a fish could help me become a better person.