Site-seers;Web Sites

5th June 1998, 1:00am
OUT THERE NEWS

http:www.megastories.com

Fear not. This site has nothing to do with The X-Files, UFOs, parapsychology, nor any other branch of the weirdness industry. Out There News deals with the all-too-real business of recent world events, but in a constantly surprising way.

I arrived at the site while looking for a lazy hack’s guide to the Northern Ireland peace process. Instead of the expected lists of archived news reports, OTN allows you to assemble your own Northern Ireland file.

There is material on the background, from various points of view; statements from the various leaders, personal accounts of the Troubles; the American dimension; and the culture of the conflict, including the jokes.

Around 20 other topics - from Algeria to global warming, via Diana and Iraq - are covered in equally unorthodox ways. If this is what “non-linear news” means, I’m all for it.