Editing Sound bite

{{short description|Short audio clip extracted from a recording}}
A '''sound bite''' or '''soundbite'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/soundbite|title = Soundbite}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://communicatemedia.com/what-is-a-soundbite/#:~:text=A%20soundbite%20is%20essentially%20a%20punchy%2C%20memorable%20comment,second.%20It%20also%20translates%20as%20about%20two%20sentences | title=What is a soundbite and how do you use them effectively? | date=21 July 2022 }}</ref> is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full-length piece. In the context of [[journalism]], a sound bite is characterized by a short phrase or sentence that captures the essence of what the speaker was trying to say, and is used to summarize information and entice the reader or viewer. The term was coined by the [[Media in the United States|U.S. media]] in the 1970s. Since then, various [[politician]]s have increasingly employed sound bites to summarize their positions.

Due to its brevity, the sound bite often overshadows the broader [[Context (language use)|context]] in which it was spoken, and can be misleading or inaccurate. The insertion of sound bites into news broadcasts or documentaries is open to [[Media manipulation|manipulation]], leading to conflict over [[journalistic ethics]].

== History ==

In the 1960s and 1970s, pressure from [[Advertising|advertisers]] on the [[Television in the United States|American television industry]] to create entertaining news material made sound bites central to political coverage. Politicians began to use [[Public relations|PR]] techniques to craft self-images and slogans that would resonate with the television-viewing audience and ensure their victory in campaigns.<ref name="KazinEdwards2011">{{cite book|author1=Michael Kazin|author2=Rebecca Edwards|author3=Adam Rothman|title=The Concise Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hScNkRpePoC&pg=PA401|date=21 August 2011|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-15207-3|page=401}}</ref> The term "sound bite" was coined in the late 1970s, several years before the presidency of [[Ronald Reagan]], who was famous for short, memorable phrases like, "[[Mikhail Gorbachev|Mr. Gorbachev]], [[tear down this wall]]!" in reference to the [[Berlin Wall]].<ref name="SujanskyFerri-Reed2009">{{cite book|author1=Joanne Sujansky|author2=Jan Ferri-Reed|title=Keeping The Millennials: Why Companies Are Losing Billions in Turnover to This Generation- and What to Do About It|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780470438510|url-access=registration|date=2 June 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-43851-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780470438510/page/174 174]}}</ref>

During the [[1988 United States presidential election]], candidate [[Michael Dukakis]] highlighted the prominent role of sound bites and [[Spin-doctors|spin doctors]] in political campaigns by running a commercial that mocked contender [[George H. W. Bush]]'s handlers' frustration over the [[gaffe]]s of his vice presidential running-mate [[Dan Quayle]].<ref name="Dahlgren1993">{{cite book|author=Peter Dahlgren|title=Communication and Citizenship: Journalism and the Public Sphere|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrR1YMHi8ZwC&pg=PA122|date=12 November 1993|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-10067-0|page=122}}</ref>

== Journalism ==

In journalism, sound bites are used to summarize the position of the speaker, as well as to increase the interest of the reader or viewer in the piece. In both [[print journalism|print]] and [[broadcast journalism]], sound bites are conventionally juxtaposed and interspersed with commentary from the journalist to create a [[news story]]. A balanced news report is expected to contain sound bites representing both sides of the debate.<ref name="Butler2006">{{cite book|author=Jeremy G. Butler|title=Television: Critical Methods and Applications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7rWFRLVyvY0C&pg=PA233|access-date=4 August 2012|date=8 September 2006|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-8058-5415-2|page=233}}</ref> This technique, however, can lead to [[bias]]ed reporting when a sound bite is selected for [[sensationalism]], or is used to promote the point of view of one individual or group over another.<ref name="Wilkins2008">{{cite book|author=Wilkins|title=Handbook of Media Ethics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0fJYkdSufLYC&pg=PA111|date=21 July 2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8058-6191-4|page=111}}</ref>

== Impact ==

In his book ''The Sound Bite Society'', Jeffrey Scheuer argues that the sound bite was the product of [[television]]'s increased power over all forms of communication, and that the resulting trend toward short, catchy snippets of information had a significant negative impact on American political discourse.<ref name="Scheuer2001">{{cite book|author=Jeffrey Scheuer|title=The Sound Bite Society: How Television Helps the Right and Hurts the Left|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5V7zPPKx_o0C|date=2 November 2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-93662-0}}</ref> In contrast, [[Peggy Noonan]] feels that sound bites have acquired a negative connotation but are not inherently negative, and that what we now think of as great historical sound bites&mdash;such as "[[The only thing we have to fear is fear itself]]", the most famous phrase in [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s first [[Inaugural Address]]&mdash;were examples of eloquent speakers unselfconsciously and "simply trying in words to capture the essence of the thought they wished to communicate."<ref name="Noonan1999">{{cite book|author=Peggy Noonan|title=On Speaking Well|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CvDSoc9CL0AC&pg=PA93|date=1 March 1999|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-098740-4|page=93}}</ref>

The increased use of sound bites in news media has been criticized, and has led to discussions on [[journalistic ethics|journalistic]] and [[media ethics]].<ref name="Berry2008">{{cite book|author=David Berry|title=Journalism, Ethics and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZ8YvkBUCPYC&pg=PA28|date=15 December 2008|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-4780-5|page=28}}</ref> According to the [[Code of Ethics]] of the [[Society of Professional Journalists]], journalists should "make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icij.org/Content.aspx?context=about&topic=ethics&id=705|title=The Center for Public Integrity-Journalistic Ethics<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref>

Despite this criticism, sound bites are widely employed by businesses, trade groups, labor unions and politicians.  Senator [[Jim DeMint]] readily admitted this when he said, "There’s a reason why most politicians talk in sanitized sound bites: Once you get out of that, you’re opening yourself up to get attacked."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/84001.html?hp=t1|title=GOP plots to prevent more Akins|website=[[Politico]]|date=18 November 2012 }}</ref>

<!-- Some bits and pieces may be useful here, but broadly speaking most of this is not appropriate for this article.
* "[[This was their finest hour]]". (the concluding phrase of Sir [[Winston Churchill]]'s speech to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom]] in 1940)
* "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy....." (the opening phrase of Franklin D. Roosevelt's [[Infamy Speech|speech]] declaring war on [[Japan]] the day after [[Pearl Harbor]] had been attacked)
*"[[Ask not what your country can do for you]]. Ask what you can do for your country." (the most famous phrase in [[John F. Kennedy]]'s Inaugural Address in 1961)
* "[[Ich bin ein Berliner]]" John F. Kennedy on June 26, 1963.
* "Houston, [[Tranquility Base]] here. The Eagle has landed." Neil Armstrong from the [[Apollo 11|Apollo 11 mission]]
* "Houston, we've had a problem." (said by James A. Lovell in the [[Apollo XIII|Apollo XIII mission]])
* "[[Read my lips: no new taxes]]", delivered by [[President of the United States|United States presidential candidate]] [[George H. W. Bush]]
* "[[Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy]]". said by [[Lloyd Bentsen]] as a retort to [[Dan Quayle]]'s comparison of himself to Jack Kennedy in terms of political experience
* "I feel the hand of history upon our shoulders" &mdash; [[Tony Blair]] following the 1998 [[Good Friday agreement]]. Blair had just commented that "A day like today, it's not a day for soundbites: we can leave those at home".<ref>{{cite news | title=Ten most embarrassing political moments | date=2003-11-27 |  url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/3242648.stm | work =[[BBC News]] | access-date = 2008-12-05  }}</ref>
* "[[Elvis has left the building]]" was an announcement often heard on the public address system after an Elvis Presley concert to disperse crowds lingering for an encore.
* "[[I did not have sexual relations with that woman]], Miss Lewinsky." On January 26, U.S. President [[Bill Clinton]], standing with his wife, spoke at a White House press conference, and issued a forceful denial, which contained what would later become one of the best-known sound bites of his presidency.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apoliticus.com/2008/10/top-5-political-quotes-that-defined-presidencies/|title=Top 5: Political Quotes That Defined Presidencies - APOLITICUS.COM}}</ref> -->

==Examples==
* [[Ash heap of history]] 
* [[Axis of evil]] 
* [[Ever closer union]] 
* [[Evil Empire speech]] 
* [[Make America Great Again]]
* [[Manifest destiny]] 
* [[Peace for our time]] 
* [[Read my lips: no new taxes]]
* [[Shock and awe]] 
* [[War on terror]] 
* [[Weapons of mass destruction]]

==See also==
* [[Buzzword]]
* [[Catchphrase]] 
* [[Concision (media studies)]]
* [[Gotcha journalism]]
* [[Media clip]]
* [[Sheeple]] 
* [[Slogan]] 
* [[Sounds to Sample]]
* [[Spin (public relations)]]

== References ==
{{reflist|40em}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|position=left}}

{{Media manipulation}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sound Bite}}
[[Category:Broadcast journalism]]
[[Category:Mass media]]
[[Category:Public relations techniques]]
[[Category:Rhetorical techniques]]