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Before the actual term "sound bite" had been coined, Mark Twain
Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an United Statesmerican author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer....
 described the concept as "a minimum of sound to a maximum of sense." It is characterized by a short phrase or sentence that deftly captures the essence of what the speaker is trying to say. Such key moments in dialogue (or monologue) stand out better in the audience's memory and thus become the "taste" that best represents the entire "meal" of the larger message or conversation.






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Before the actual term "sound bite" had been coined, Mark Twain
Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an United Statesmerican author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer....
 described the concept as "a minimum of sound to a maximum of sense." It is characterized by a short phrase or sentence that deftly captures the essence of what the speaker is trying to say. Such key moments in dialogue (or monologue) stand out better in the audience's memory and thus become the "taste" that best represents the entire "meal" of the larger message or conversation. Sound bites are a natural consequence of people placing ever greater emphasis on summarizing ever-increasing amounts of information in their lives.

In film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 and broadcasting
Broadcasting

Broadcasting is distribution of Sound and/or video Signalling s which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
, a sound bite is a very short piece of a speech
Speech

Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...
 taken from a longer speech or an interview
Interview

An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee....
 in which someone with authority
Authority

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power ". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy , the justification and right to exercise that power....
 or the average "man on the street" says something which is considered by those who edit the speech or interview to be the most important point.

As the context
Context (language use)

Context is a notion used in the language sciences in two different ways, namely as*verbal context*social contextVerbal context refers to surrounding text or talk of an expression ....
 of what is being said is missing, the insertion of sound bites into news broadcasts or documentaries is open to manipulation
Manipulation

Manipulation can mean:...
 and thus requires a very high degree of journalistic ethics. According to the Code of Ethics
Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics can refer to:* Ethical code, a code of professional responsibility, noting what behaviors are "ethical".* Code of Ethics , a 90's Christian New Wave/Pop band...
 of the Society of Professional Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists

The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States....
, 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."

Politician
Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
s of the new generation are carefully coached by their spin doctor
Spin (public relations)

In public relations, spin is providing an interpretation of an event or campaign to persuade public opinion in favor or against a certain organization or public figure....
s to produce on-demand sound bites which are clear and to the point.

The term is sometimes written incorrectly (or ironically) as "sound byte". It is also the name of a book by Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)

Franz Ferdinand are a Scotland Rock music band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2002. Named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band comprises Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson ....
 frontman Alex Kapranos
Alex Kapranos

Alex Kapranos was born Alexander Paul Kapranos, March 20, 1972 in Almondsbury, Gloucestershire. He is the vocalist and a guitarist of the Glasgow band Franz Ferdinand ....
.

Historical sound bites

Classic examples of sound bites include Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
's demand that "Mr. Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a Russian politician. He was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until 1991, and also the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1988 until its collapse in 1991....
, tear down this wall
Tear down this wall

"Tear down this wall!" was the famous challenge from United States President of the United States Ronald Reagan to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall....
!" in reference to the increasing social pressure to remove the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a physical separation barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic , including East Berlin. The longer inner German border demarcated the border between East and West Germany....
. In this context, the well-delivered sound bite serves as a cultural icon that others are likely to know about.

More sound bites include:
  • "The only thing we have to fear is - fear itself." (the most famous phrase in Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt , often referred to by his initials FDR, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
    's first Inaugural Address in 1933)
  • "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy....." (the opening phrase of Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech declaring war on Japan
    Japan

    Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
     the day after Pearl Harbor
    Pearl Harbor

    Pearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu, Hawaii. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base....
     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
    John F. Kennedy

    John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1961 until John F....
    's Inaugural Address in 1961)
  • "Ich bin ein Berliner
    Ich bin ein Berliner

    "Ich bin ein Berliner" is a quotation from a June 26, 1963 speech by President of the United States John F. Kennedy in West Berlin. He was underlining the support of the United States for West Germany shortly after the Soviet Union-supported Communist state of East Germany erected the Berlin Wall as a barrier to prevent movement between E...
    " John F. Kennedy at 26. June 1963.
  • "Houston, Tranquility Base
    Tranquility Base

    Tranquility Base was the name given by Astronaut Neil Armstrong to the landing site on the moon where the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle landed....
     here. The Eagle has landed." Neil Armstrong from the Apollo 11 mission
    Apollo 11

    The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Apollo program and the third human voyage to the Moon....
  • "Houston, we've had a problem." (said by James A. Lovell in the Apollo XIII mission)
  • "Read my lips: no new taxes
    Read my lips: no new taxes

    "Read my lips: no new taxes" is a now-famous phrase spoken by former American President of the United States and candidate George H. W. Bush at the 1988 1988 Republican National Convention as he accepted the nomination on August 18....
    ", delivered by United States presidential candidate
    President of the United States

    The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
     George H. W. Bush
    George H. W. Bush

    George Herbert Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Bush held a variety of political positions prior to his presidency, including Vice President of the United States in the administration of Ronald Reagan and Director of Central Intelligence under Gerald R....
  • "Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy
    Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy

    "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" was a phrase spoken during the 1988 United States Vice President of the United States debate by Democratic Party vice-presidential candidate United States Senate Lloyd Bentsen to Republican Party vice-presidential candidate Senator Dan Quayle....
    ." said by Lloyd Bentsen
    Lloyd Bentsen

    Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. , was a four-term United States Senate from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President of the United States in U.S....
     as a retort to Dan Quayle
    Dan Quayle

    James Danforth "Dan" Quayle is an United States politician and was the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States, serving under George H....
    's comparison of himself to Jack Kennedy in terms of political experience
  • "I feel the hand of history upon our shoulders" — Tony Blair
    Tony Blair

    Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007....
     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".


See also

  • Non-denial denial
    Non-denial denial

    Non-denial denial is a phrase that became popular in the wake of the Watergate scandal, referring to an equivocation denial, particularly one made by an official to the press....
  • Buzzword
    Buzzword

    A buzzword is a vague idiom, usually a neologism, that is common to managerial, technical, administrative, and political work environments. Although meant to impress the listener with the speaker's pretense to knowledge, buzzwords render sentences opaque, difficult to understand and question, because the buzzword does not mean what it denomi...
  • Media clip
    Media clip

    A media clip is a short segment of media either an audio clip or a video clip.Media clips may be promotional in nature, as with movie clips....
  • Propaganda
    Propaganda

    Propaganda is the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to Objectivity providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience....
  • Video clip
    Video clip

    Video clips are short media clip of video, usually part of a longer piece.Video clips in digital format are often found on the internet where the massive influx of new video clips during 2006 was hailed as a new phenomenon having a profound impact on both the internet and other forms of Electronic media....


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