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Newsreel vs. Television News

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Newsreel vs. Television News
Walk through 20th century movie- Difference and similarities between newsreels and television news?
Newsreel vs. Television News
In The days before television network news emerged in the society, a newsreel was the main source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of people. A newsreel was “a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest” (Newsreel). These newsreels were shown almost always in black and white. After the emergence of television news, the newsreels started to slowly disappear. The television news became so popular because it could easily be broadcasted and shown to people. People no longer had to wait for the news; they could now watch live coverage of current events on the television (Newsreel).
When we look at both forms of media in the 20th century, we can see many similarities and differences. One of the similarites newsreel and teleivison news have is in terms of length. When newsreels were in place, they typically were structured like a daily newspaper. They ran an average of 10-15 minutes in length and covered about six to seven short news items. The newsreels also established a “format which news broadcasts follow to this day” (The Newsreel). 20th century television news similarly runs of an average of 15 minutes. According to the Conservapedia, in 1949, Carnel News Caravan, which was aired on the National Broadcasting Company, became the most popular newscast on television. The newscast consisted of reporting and commenting on the day’s news events and on-air interviews and was aired for 15 minutes in length (Swayze).
The Television news and newsreels have some differences as well. According to the Cultural and Communication website, “In 1952, Charles Lazarus wrote in the Motion Picture Herald, “theatrical newsreels are expertly and smoothly edited and presented with no



Cited: Gould, Mark R. "History of TV News - Part 1." Atyourlibrary.org. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://atyourlibrary.org/culture/history-tv-news-part-1>. "John Swayze." Conservapedia.com. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.conservapedia.com/John_Swayze>. "Newsreel." Cultureandcommunication.org. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Newsreel>. "Newsreel." Tvtropes.org. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Newsreel>. "Newsreel." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsreel>. "The Newsreel." Movietonews.com. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.movietonews.com/the_fox_movietone_newsreel.html>.

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