newsreel

American  

[nooz-reel, nyooz-] / ˈnuzˌril, ˈnjuz- /

noun

1. a short motion picture presenting current or recent events.

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newsreel British  

/ ˈnjuːzˌriːl /

noun

1. a short film with a commentary presenting current events

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Etymology

Origin of newsreel

First recorded in 1915–20; news + reel ¹

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Explanation

A newsreel is a short, informative documentary film. In the early part of the twentieth century, newsreels were usually shown before movies in theaters. In the early 1900s, newsreels ran (often along with a cartoon) before a film. During World War Two, newsreels gave movie-goers news about the war as well as current events at home. The word dates from about 1915, from news and reel, the cylinder that film was wound around for being projected onto a screen.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

newsreel

A Pathé newsreel, filmed when she was five years old, noted that the toddler had "surprised musical critics by her playing of Beethoven".

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

The product wasn’t profitable, and every user who spliced themselves into a World War II newsreel or Hollywood chase scene drew down a finite resource.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026

Listening to a Japanese newsreel describe him as a villain referred to only as “the American,” you realize that “Marty Supreme” is more than a caricature of Reisman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025

Eisenstein asserted that the film “looks like a newsreel of an event, but it functions as a drama.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025

I wonder if it'll land me in a tattler or scandal sheet or the late-night newsreel.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

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