A newsreel was a short film, usually 10-20 minutes long, that showed recent news events and was played in movie theaters before the main feature. Before television became common in homes during the 1950s, newsreels were how most Americans saw moving pictures of current events.

When families went to see a movie in the 1930s and 1940s, they'd first watch a newsreel with footage of the week's biggest stories: sporting events, political speeches, disasters, scientific achievements, or updates from World War II. A dramatic voice would narrate over the images, explaining what viewers were seeing. These newsreels helped people feel connected to events happening across the country and around the world, even if they lived in small towns far from big cities.

The most famous newsreel companies had names like Pathé News and Movietone News. They employed camera operators who rushed to capture important moments on film, then raced to develop and distribute the footage to theaters nationwide. While today we can watch breaking news instantly on phones or computers, newsreels were groundbreaking because they let ordinary people see history unfolding, not just read about it. Television eventually made newsreels obsolete, but you can still watch old newsreels online to see how people learned about major events before TV news existed.