Newsprint is the inexpensive paper that's used to print newspapers and ads. Magazines tend to be printed on glossy, high-quality paper, while newspapers are printed on the thin and messy newsprint.
Because it's cheap, very strong, and makes a good background for the four-color printing that newspapers typically use, newsprint is the most popular kind of paper for this kind of printing. Newsprint was invented in the mid-1800s, from wood pulp. It comes on rolls that unspool into a printing press. Despite the decline in Western printed newspapers, demand for newsprint continues to grow in much of Asia, especially China.