You might even find an online archive of old newspapers, but they are perhaps less likely to be useful.
eg
http://www.classicnewspapers.com/I know that there is a book called "History as Hot News" that covers 1865-1897, but there may be something similar for later eras. I vaguely recall one called "Front Page History" but cannot remember what it covered.
There are reprinted volumes of certain magazines that cover specific periods, "Punch" (an old UK satirical magazine) has a few volumes, "Good Housekeeping" (a magazine with lots of cookery hints etc) has a few volumes on the lines of "Best of the 1940s". There's a compilation edition of "Signal" (German propoganda magazine 1930s-1945, you'd have to be very selective with which pages you chose, but it might be handy for a plot involving spies perhaps)