You can use historical newspapers to find out how issues and events were reported during a specific time in history.
Today's News
Many newspapers allow you to register and receive free access to at least a portion of that day's published articles.
The New York Times
The Washington Post
International Media
Current articles from many news sources are also available online.
ABYZ News Links "Gateway to Newspapers, News Media, and News Sources" from around the world, with its own search tool.
ICON: International Coalition on Newspapers. An information clearinghouse and searchable database covering over 25,000 newspapers around the world.
LANIC: Newspapers & News in Latin America
LANIC: Television in Latin America
OnlineNewspapers.com. More than 5,000 titles listed by country.
The Paperboy Links to more than 3600 newspapers from 126 countries.
International Newspaper Archives
There are some online publicly available international newspaper collections as well.
European Newspaper Archives Links to (mostly) free European newspaper archives. Includes British, Irish, Welsh, German, French, Dutch, and other collections. From Xooxle Answers.
International News: Historical Archives. Newspaper collections from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the rest of the world excluding Europe and the U.S.
International News Archives on the Web. Selective coverage of papers from around the world with searchable archives.