In October 2002, when I heard the Palace of Culture theatre in Moscow had recently been raided by a group of masked terrorists, I went straight to kavkaz.org, the website of the Chechen rebels. I initially discovered the website in 1999 when Chechen rebels were suspected of orchestrating bombings in Moscow that resulted in hundreds of deaths. Since then, the website had maintained its cheap but effective format, reminiscent of the old bulletin boards of the late 80s and early 90s, but had acquired a strangely sophisticated (and even hip) Flash intro that featured a gripping soundtrack and action-packed images of recent global events. I read the latest postings on the website, mostly detailed and jubilant statements about the initial success of the rebels’ murderous attack and their leaders’ involvement in the process. Within a couple of hours the website was down, presumably because of Russia’s quick and effective intervention. Tragically, the Russian military’s absurd attempt to bring an end to the raid itself was not so effective.

The demands made upon readers of multimedia news and rhetoric in this type of situation are familiar to most users of the internet. Globalisation and evolving technologies affect the production, presentation and reception of information in a profound manner. They also have profound effects on culture. The immigration, emigration and colonisation that introduces cultures to other cultures is now reproduced daily in instantaneous intra- and international textual transmission on the internet. And the variety of media forms and sources one must encounter and ‘read’ in any particular exchange is itself growing in diversity and complexity. These circumstances are familiar to most ‘wired’ readers, but what is not so familiar is the debate concerning how these circumstances affect the responsibilities of the (wired) reader and teacher.

As the conditions of reading and writing change, the practical and ethical demands made on critical readers in civic society also change. Given access to a computer and an internet connection, a literate person can take advantage of free access to much of the world’s news and literature, from the local politics of an impoverished neighbourhood in Sydney to immediate updates on a potential genocide in Sudan to psi-vampire self-empowerment radicalism in Cincinnati. Never before have so many had the chance to say so much to so many. Being an active participant in contemporary political and social life requires that those who are privileged enough to be literate and enjoy access to the media exercise their potential to read globally, across international and generic boundaries. Privileged access to information entails the duty to stay informed and maintain the skills to stay informed.

Changes in reading also require changes in teaching readers. Contemporary global reading requires global teaching and globalised anthologies. The meaning of critical, self-aware and democratically responsible reading in our world requires that courses in reading and writing ‘English’ – the language in which the Chechen rebels’ website was written, but not the culture – must teach students to read globally, and to manage vast sources of information across genres, media and cultures. The necessary task of transforming reading and teaching in accordance with a global perspective should be performed with a productive joy, rather than an overwhelming apprehension; as a challenge, not a threat, to personal, cultural and national identity.