Soundbite
Soundbite (also Sound bite ) is an English expression for a short, memorable quote.
In television and radio reporting, the term describes a very short verbal contribution that has been removed from a longer contribution. The quote can come from an otherwise unknown person as well as a well-known personality, it is important that it brings the statement on a topic to the point.
Examples of sound bites are:
- John F. Kennedy's saying: " I am a Berliner " in his speech on June 26, 1963
- Martin Luther King's words: " I have a dream " in his speech on August 28, 1963
- Ronald Reagan's saying: "Tear down this wall!" On June 12, 1987 in West Berlin
- George HW Bush's saying: " Read my lips: no new taxes " in his speech on August 18, 1988
- Barack Obama's campaign slogan : “ Yes We Can ”, first uttered by him in a pre-election speech on January 8, 2008
- Angela Merkel's saying: “ We can do it ” at a federal press conference on August 31, 2015
The last example in particular shows the importance of a soundbite from the field of politics in the media, because a soundbite can be excellent rhetoric and nevertheless a speech can easily be reduced to this small excerpt and all further statements are forgotten. For this reason, political speeches are sometimes designed by spin doctors based on such catchy words. A soundbite can be viewed as a modern, media-compatible version of a winged word , but it should always be critically questioned.
Web links
- Wiktionary entry: Sound bite (English)
- soundbite in the Cambridge Dictionary (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Andreas W. Daum: I am a Berliner. John F. Kennedy's address in front of the Schöneberg Town Hall in Berlin. In: Gerhard Paul, Ralph Schock (eds.): The sound of the century. Noises, tones, voices - 1889 until today. Wallstein, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8353-1568-6 .