Why newspaper is a feminine noun?
Apples are males hehehe
It just is. Maybe there would be less confusion if the words were categorized in class A, B or C. A standing for masculine, B for feminine and C for neuter.
Or we could simply say Masculine, feminine, and neuter and cut out the middle man....
how do you know if a noun is feminine or masculine?
It comes as a package. You must learn the word newspaper as "Die Zeitung", not just "Zeitung".