Newspapers in Class

I often wondered how I could effectively make use of newspapers in my ELT class. I don't think I quite have the success formula yet, but let me 'ruminate' over this for a bit.

What I did was asked my students to read something from the newspapers (I stick to the Times of India for the sake of uniformity and because I know they have great feature articles and good writing style) and to tell the class about what they have read. This activity didn't quite take off as expected. I began this very late..just last week and the response has not been overwhelming. Of course, the good, motivated students are coming up with descriptions of snippets that they have read. Maybe if given more thought and time, this activity could work. After all, they SHOULD know how to read newspapers and also form opinions on the things they read. Newspapers are the most authentic materials I think. Maybe I could try again. Am open to brighter ideas too....

Perhaps I could do one thing more with papers- I could put up a colored chartpaper on the wall and ask the students to stick any newspaper article they find interesting on the 'wallpaper' and preferably highlight the most interesting parts to make it easier for others to read.
Hmmm...........so many ideas and so li'l implementation. Reminds me of Robert Frost: "And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."