Mulch Q

[DSavona777]

I have a question about newspaper mulch. I've read a few posts about how newspaper makes a good mulch, but I've always planted without any mulch at all. (Maybe that's why I have problems...) Forgive me if this sounds naiive, but I'm a newbie. When you mulch with newspaper, do you just spread out newspaper? Do you shred it? Am I missing something here?

BTW, I'm in southern Connecticut and plan on planting in about a week, as it's warming up nicely here.