Watch Movies2Watch. The “spinning newspaper” trope is a clichéd cinematic device that is used both to introduce major events and show the passage of time in a film. In this piece, an illegible newspaper spins continuously towards the viewer, never arriving but guaranteeing the presence of a steady stream of information. Rather than deliver news, the endlessly spinning paper offers only the promise of constant change, both in the form of news and in the form of its delivery.