Apparently The Film Takes Place In 1986...

[The Dark Knight]

It has "Discontinued 1977" emblazoned across it.

But as said, its like 1947 somehow "survived" up to 1989.

[GothamAlleys]

What about the CIA's file on DDID Nerve Gas?

Ah good catch. And yes, like TDK said, its 1989 for sure, but its like 1947 happens in 1989, if that makes sense

[d_osborn]

unfortunately, no... it's all gibberish aside from the headlines.

Depends on how you view it. I find it fortunate, as it just strengthens my snow-globe opinion.

the articles are pretty much the same paragraphs repeated over and over. aside from the headlines, the text isn't relevant to the film at all.  it's not even coherent as a story.

i have a few prop newspapers from other 80s and 90s films... they're all pretty much the same.  gibberish articles with movie-accurate headlines. some of the papers have dates, some don't. 

burton's batman films had a LOT of detail in the production design, but the articles in the prop newspapers don't fell into that category.