Wondering the same thing myself. In the U.K. I can attest to the quality of The Guardian although it does get a little emotionally charged - particularly its editorials - excellent paper otherwise. The Financial Times is another excellent paper and funnily enough regarded by Noam Chomsky as the most accurate.

As far as US papers go The NY Times has a pretty spotty history. It is still a very good paper, just gotta be aware of its short comings.

I hear The Wall Street Journal is also very good but never really read it personally - usually pickup The Economist instead (despite all its problems).

As far as free stuff goes Democracy Now is up there with any news I've seen on television and since it refuses corporate, advertising or government funding is entirely reliant on donations to remain as unbiased as possible. Very good indeed and worth supporting.