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                             SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT

                  SUBSCRIPTION  AGREEMENT,  made as of April 17,  1998,  between
NEWS  COMMUNICATIONS,  INC., a Nevada  corporation with its principal offices at
173-15 Horace Harding Expressway,  Fresh Meadows, New York 11365 (the "Company",
which  term  shall  include  any  corporation  or entity  which  succeeds  to or
generally assumes the obligations of the Company), and BERSHAD INVESTMENT GROUP,
L.P., 2 Stonebridge Road, Montclair, New Jersey 07042 (the "Purchaser").

         1.       PURCHASE OF SECURITIES.

                  1.1 Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the
Company  hereby  agrees to issue  and sell to the  Purchaser  and the  Purchaser
hereby agrees to purchase from the Company, for $200,000 (the "Purchase Price"),
20,000 shares of the Company's $10.00 Convertible  Preferred Stock Series 2, par
value  $1.00  per  share  (the  "Shares"),   such  Shares  having  designations,
preferences  and relative  participating,  conversion or other special rights or
qualifications,  limitations or restrictions as are set forth in the Certificate
of Designation with respect thereto annexed hereto as EXHIBIT 1.

                  1.2 At the Closing (as  hereinafter  defined),  the  Purchaser
shall  initiate a  wire-transfer  in the amount of the Purchase  Price to a bank
account  specified by the Company and the Company shall deliver to the Purchaser
certificates representing the Shares.

                  1.3 The  closing of the sale of the Shares  ("Closing")  shall
take place at the offices of Graubard  Mollen & Miller,  600 Third  Avenue,  New
York,  New York 10016,  at 10:00 A.M., on the second  business day following the
date on which






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the Certificate of Designation  with respect to the Shares has been filed in the
office of the Secretary of State of Nevada.

                  1.4 Promptly  after the Closing,  the Company  shall take such
steps as are  necessary  to cause the shares of the Common Stock  issuable  upon
conversion of the Shares to be listed for trading on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market,
subject to notice of issuance.

         2.  REPRESENTATIONS  OF THE  PURCHASER.  The Purchaser  represents  and
warrants as follows:

                  2.1 It recognizes that making the investment hereby involves a
high degree of risk in that (i) it may not be able to liquidate its  investment;
(ii)  transferability of its investment may be unavailable or extremely limited;
and (iii) it could sustain the loss of its entire investment.

                  2.2 It is able to bear the economic risk of this investment.

                  2.3 It is an "accredited  investor" as such term is defined in
Rule 501 of  Regulation  D  promulgated  under the  Securities  Act of 1933,  as
amended (the "Act").

                  2.4 It has sufficient prior investment  experience,  including
investment  in  non-registered  securities,  to evaluate the merits and risks of
such an investment on its behalf. It recognizes the highly speculative nature of
this investment.

                  2.5 It has been  furnished by the Company during the course of
this  transaction  with  all  information  regarding  the  Company  that  it had
requested  or  desired to know;  that all  documents  that  could be  reasonably
provided have been made available for its inspection and review  including,  but
not

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limited to, any and all  documents  filed by the Company with the United  States
Securities and Exchange  Commission ("SEC") under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended  ("Exchange Act"), or otherwise;  that it has been afforded the
opportunity  to ask  questions  of and  receive  answers  from  duly  authorized
officers  or other  representatives  of the  Company  concerning  the  terms and
conditions of its investment hereby, and any additional  information that it has
requested. It has made such investigation of the Company, including its business
and financial condition,  as it has deemed necessary for its purposes and is not
relying upon any  statements  or  information  about the Company,  its business,
properties,  financial  condition and prospects except the  representations  and
warranties set forth in this Agreement.

                  2.6 The Shares are being  purchased  for its own account,  for
investment and not for distribution or resale to others.

                  2.7 It  understands  that the  Shares  will not be  registered
under the Act by reason of a claimed  exemption  under the provisions of the Act
that depends,  in part, upon its investment  intention.  In this connection,  it
understands that it is the position of the SEC that the statutory basis for such
exemption  would not be  present  if its  representation  merely  meant that its
present intention was to hold the Shares for a short period, such as the capital
gains period of tax statutes, for a deferred sale, for a market rise, or for any
other fixed period. It realizes that, in view of the foregoing,  a purchase with
an intent to resell would represent a purchase with an intent  inconsistent with
its  representation  to the  Company,  and the SEC might  regard  such a sale or
disposition as a deferred sale to which the exemption is not available.

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         3.       RESTRICTION ON TRANSFER.

                  3.1 Neither  the Shares nor any shares of Common  Stock of the
Company issuable upon conversion of the Shares (collectively,  the "Securities")
shall be transferable,  except upon the conditions  specified in this Agreement,
which conditions are intended, in part, to insure compliance with the provisions
of the Act.

                  3.2 The Purchaser  covenants and agrees that it will not sell,
assign or  otherwise  transfer or pledge or  hypothecate  any of the  Securities
except  pursuant to an effective  registration  statement  under the Act or in a
transaction  that is exempt from the  registration  provisions  of the Act.  The
Purchaser  will cause any  proposed  transferee  of the  Securities  (other than
pursuant  to an  effective  registration  statement  or  pursuant  to  Rule  144
promulgated under the Act) to agree to take and hold such Securities  subject to
the provisions of this Article 3.

                  3.3 All  certificates  representing any of the Securities will
bear a legend of the following or similar words:

                  The securities  represented by this  Certificate have not been
                  registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These
                  securities have been acquired for investment  purposes and not
                  with a view to  distribution  or resale,  and may not be sold,
                  assigned,  pledged,   hypothecated  or  otherwise  transferred
                  without  an   effective   Registration   Statement   for  such
                  securities  under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,  and
                  applicable  state  securities  laws,  or an opinion of counsel
                  satisfactory to News  Communications,  Inc. to the effect that
                  registration  is not  required  under  such Act or such  state
                  securities laws.

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         4.       REPRESENTATIONS BY THE COMPANY.

                  4.1 The Company represents and warrants to the Purchaser that:

                           (a) The Company is a corporation duly organized,
validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Nevada, and
has the corporate power to conduct the business that it conducts and proposes to
conduct.

                           (b) The execution, delivery and performance of this
Agreement by the Company has been duly approved by the Board of Directors of the
Company.  The Company  knows of no pending or  threatened  action or  proceeding
seeking to prevent the Company from  consummating the transactions  contemplated
by this Agreement.

                           (c) The Shares and the shares of Common Stock
issuable upon  conversion  of the Shares have been duly and validly  authorized,
and,  when  issued in  accordance  with the terms  hereof and  thereof,  will be
validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

                           (d) To the best of the knowledge of the Company, the
action entitled Jean Jee v. News Communications, Inc. and all other litigation
brought against the Company or any of its subsidiaries as a defendant is without
merit, fully insured against or will not result in an adverse judgment that
would have a material adverse effect on the Company, except that an action
entitled Tracey Robinson v. The Hill, News Communications, Inc. and Media
Venture Group, Inc. instituted in September 1996 was tried to a jury and
resulted in an adverse determination of liability to the Company and the other
defendants in the amount of $100,000. No appeal has been taken from that
finding. The plaintiff has requested an

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award of fees  and  costs in the  approximate  amount  of  $150,000,  which  the
defendants are vigorously opposing.

                           (e) No warrants, options or other securities or
contracts  that  could  lead  to the  issuance  of  Common  Shares  ("Derivative
Securities")  have been issued or entered into since  November 30, 1996,  except
that on November 5, 1997,  the Company  issued to Rothschild  Recovery Fund L.P.
("RRF") a five-year warrant to purchase,  on or after February 28, 1998, 300,000
shares of Common Stock at an initial  exercise price of $2.25 per share (subject
to  adjustment).  The  warrant  was  issued  to  RRF in  connection  with a Loan
Agreement  entered into on November 5, 1997 between  Dan's Papers Inc.  ("DPI"),
the Company and RRF pursuant to which DPI borrowed $1,500,000 from RRF.

                           (f) No Derivative Securities have been exercised by
any holder thereof since  November 30, 1996,  except that an aggregate of 49,047
shares of Common Stock were issued during such period upon the  conversion of an
equal number of shares of the Corporation's 8% Convertible Preferred Stock.

                           (g) The Company knows of no investigation pending or
threatened by the SEC or any other regulatory or self-regulatory body concerning
the  Company,  except that (i) the Company has been  advised by the staff of the
SEC that the  Division  of  Enforcement  of the staff of the SEC is  considering
recommending  that the SEC institute  enforcement  actions,  which could include
civil  penalties,  against  the Company for  violation  of Section  13(a) of the
Exchange Act, and the rules thereunder  arising in connection with the Company's
failure  to file an annual  report on Form  10-KSB  for the  fiscal  year  ended
November  30, 1997 and the late filing of the  Company's  annual  report on Form
10-KSB for the fiscal year ended November 30,

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1996,  and (ii) the Company has been  advised by The Nasdaq Stock  Market,  Inc.
("Nasdaq")  that  the  Company  is not  in  compliance  with  the  net  tangible
assets/market  capitalization/net  income  requirement  applicable  to companies
listed on the Nasdaq  SmallCap  Market,  as set forth in NASD  Marketplace  Rule
4310(c)(2), and the requirement that listed companies file with Nasdaq copies of
all  reports  filed or  required  to be filed with the SEC, as set forth in NASD
Marketplace  Rule  4310(c)(14),  and that Nasdaq had determined to terminate the
listing of the Company's Common Stock on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. The Company
has filed a written  request  for  continued  listing  with  Nasdaq and has been
advised  by  Nasdaq  that  the  request   will  be   considered   by  a  Listing
Qualifications Panel during the week of April 13, 1998.

                           (h) To the best of the knowledge of the Company, the
Annual Report of the Company on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30,
1996 and the  quarterly  reports  of the  Company  on Form  10-Q for  subsequent
periods  through the quarter ended  September  30, 1997,  were, at the time they
were filed with the SEC, true and correct in all material respects.  To the best
of the  knowledge of the  Company,  since  November 30, 1996,  there has been no
material  adverse  change to the business or operations of the Company except as
described in this Section 4.1 and except that the Company  estimates that it had
net losses of  approximately  $2,500,000  for the fiscal year ended November 30,
1997 and net  losses of  approximately  $600,000  for the fiscal  quarter  ended
February 28, 1998.

                  4.2 The  representations  and  warranties  of the  Company  in
Section  4.1 shall  survive  the  Closing  until the  first  anniversary  of the
Closing.

         5. USE OF PROCEEDS.  The proceeds received by the Company from the sale
of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement

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shall be used only to pay obligations of the Company and for
general working capital.

         6.  TRANSFER.  The Company shall not be required to (i) transfer on its
books any  securities of the Company that shall have been sold or transferred in
violation of any of the  provisions of this  Agreement or (ii) treat as owner of
such securities or to accord the right to vote as such owner or to pay dividends
to any transferee to whom such securities have been  transferred in violation of
this Agreement.

         7. AMENDMENT. No amendment or alteration of the terms of this Agreement
shall be valid unless made in writing and signed by both of the parties hereto.

         8. GOVERNING LAW. This Agreement shall be governed by the law of the
State of New York applicable to agreements made
and to be performed therein.

         9.  SEVERABILITY.  The holding of any provision of this Agreement to be
invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent  jurisdiction  shall not affect
any other  provision  of this  Agreement,  which shall  remain in full force and
effect.

         10.  NOTICES.  Any notices  required or permitted to be given hereunder
shall be sufficient if made in writing, and if delivered by hand against written
receipt therefor,  or sent by certified mail, return receipt  requested,  to the
addresses set forth above or such other address as either party may from time to
time designate in writing to the other, and shall be deemed given as of the date
of the delivery (if delivered by hand) or mailing (if mailed).

         11.  WAIVER.  It is agreed that a waiver by either party of a breach of
any provision of this Agreement shall not

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operate, or be construed, as a waiver of any subsequent breach
by that same party.

         12. ENTIRE  AGREEMENT.  This Agreement and the Exhibits  hereto contain
the entire  agreement of the parties with respect to the subject  matter  hereof
and shall be binding  upon and inure to the  benefit of the  parties  hereto and
their  respective  legal   representatives,   heirs,   distributees,   permitted
successors and assigns.

         13.  FURTHER  ASSURANCES.  The parties agree to execute and deliver all
such  further  documents,  agreements  and  instruments  and take such other and
further  action as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes and
intent of this Agreement.

         14.  HEADINGS.   The  article  and  section  headings  and  subheadings
appearing in this  Agreement are for purposes of easy reference and shall not be
considered a part of this Agreement or in any way to modify, amend or affect its
provisions.

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                  IN WITNESS  WHEREOF,  the parties  hereto have  executed  this
Agreement as of the date and year first above written.

                                        NEWS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

                                        By: /s/ Michael Schenkler
                                           ---------------------------
                                           Michael Schenkler, President

                                        PURCHASER:

                                        BERSHAD INVESTMENT GROUP, L.P.

                                        By:/s/ David J. Bershad
                                           ---------------------------
                                           David J. Bershad,
                                           General Partner

                                        Taxpayer I.D. No. of
                                        Purchaser:

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