News from Turkmenistan (or Teddington)

Whether you prefer to see the newsstand version or the online edition, we can help you find your newspaper.

Hold the front page

I was glancing at the front page of today’s Telegraph just a minute ago. Not our own dear Daily Telegraph – the one I was looking at is published in Calcutta, and I reached its front page using the Newseum. I could have looked at any one of 578 other front pages from around the world.

Useful? After all, the Calcutta Telegraph has a website with all its top news stories and features, and so do most of the other newspapers featured on Newseum. But if you think that a trawl through the front pages gives you a flavour of what’s bugging people in India or Australia or Huntsville, Alabama, then the Newseum is for you.

There is going to be an actual, physical Newseum in Washington DC. You can watch a video of the building going up (don’t bother with any of the other videos on the site: they don’t work). Lots of new and exciting features are promised; we remain to be impressed by these if and when they happen. It’s the nearly 600 front pages that impress us right now.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select "New & mags". Newseum is a Key Link.)


Local woman in house plant horror

Talking of online newspapers, the best bet for tracking them down is called, spookily, Online Newspapers. When I opened the front page, it was dominated by an advert for central heating boilers, with a very dull series of drop-down menus below it. Do not be put off: these will lead you to hundreds and hundreds of newspapers with websites. Look, for instance, under "United Kingdom" (left hand column, third box down) and find "England A to K". Click on that to make virtual visits to Andover, Birkenhead, Congleton and Dewsbury, through the medium of their local rags.

Of course, some newspapers are absolute awful, not worth wrapping chips in. And they don’t suddenly become journalistic swans just because they’re online. If you don’t believe me, just try looking at the [libel lawyers have removed the name - Ed]. So don’t blame me if you drown in a sea of "Weather fails to spoil church fete" stories.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select "New & mags". Online Newspapers is a Key Link.)