In film and broadcasting, a soundbite (or soundbyte) is a very short piece of footage taken from a longer speech or an interview in which someone with authority 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 of what is being said is missing, the insertion of soundbites into news broadcasts or documentaries is open to manipulation and thus requires a very high degree of journalistic ethics. Politicians of the new generation are carefully coached by their spin doctors to produce on-demand soundbites which are clear and to the point. Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Note: broadcasting is also a term for hand sowing. ... In film and video, footage is the raw, unedited material as it has been recorded by the camera, which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work. ... Look up Speech in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... interview An interview is a conversation between two or more people (The interviewer and the interviewee) where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee. ... In politics, authority (Latin auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to potestas and imperium) is often used interchangeably with the term power. However, their meanings differ. ... In Music, Audio editing is the process of taking recorded sound and changing it directly on the recording medium. ... Look up Context in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The word manipulation has a number of different meanings, among which are: To treat or operate with the hands in a skillful manner. ... Journalism ethics or journalistic ethics refers to a set of rules or morals adopted by news organizations or members of the news media. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

A soundbite is an audiolinguistic and social communications phenomenon whose nature was recognized in the late 20th century, helped by people such as Marshall McLuhan. 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. Soundbites are a natural consequence of people placing ever greater emphasis on summarizing ever-increasing amounts of information in their lives. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Herbert Marshall McLuhan CC (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar. ...

News media in particular cherish soundbites. Reporters agree that the best news footage contains at least one soundbite. Politicians in turn have learned (along with their speechwriters) to put greater effort into delivering the perfect soundbite. Originality is not necessary but highly valued. Soundbites are useful to help guide footage editors focus on parts of dialogue that help advance the overall message.

Not everyone enjoys hearing soundbites. ^{[citation needed]} They tend to sound best when delivered unplanned, and the logical inverse is often true -- the planned soundbite can easily ring forced and cast doubt as to the speaker's integrity. The importance of a soundbite is that "the message hits home".

It is also the name of a book by Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos.

Historical soundbites

Classic examples of soundbites include Ronald Reagan's demand that "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" in reference to the increasing social pressure to remove the Berlin Wall. In this context, the well-delivered soundbite serves as a cultural icon that others are likely to know about. Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov ( , Mihail Sergeevič Gorbačëv, IPA: , commonly written as Mikhail Gorbachev; born March 2, 1931) was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. ... Tear down this wall is the famous challenge from a speech by Ronald Reagan, the 40th US president, who is credited by his supporters with winning the Cold War. ... East German construction workers building the Berlin Wall, 20 November 1961. ...

More soundbites include:

• "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." In one succinct phrase, the entire Apollo Moon program was culminated.
• "Houston, we've had a problem." said by James A. Lovell in the Apollo XIII mission
• "Read my lips: no new taxes", delivered by 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 shoulder" — Tony Blair following the 1998 Good Friday agreement. However, Blair had just commented that "A day like today, it's not a day for soundbites: we can leave those at home".

There was also a news agency called "SoundByte News" in the early era of personal computers. Tranquillity Base was the name given by Astronaut Neil Armstrong to the landing site on the moon where the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle landed. ... Description Role: Earth and Lunar Orbit Crew: 3; CDR, CM pilot, LM pilot Dimensions Height: 36. ... movie by the name of Apollo 13 Apollo 13 was an American space mission, part of the Apollo program. ... Bush delivering the famous line at the 1988 convention Read my lips: No new taxes was a famous pledge made by Republican Presidential candidate George H.W. Bush at the 1988 Republican convention in his acceptance speech on August 18. ... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... George Herbert Walker Bush GCB (born June 12, 1924) was the 41st President of the United States of America serving from 1989 to 1993. ... Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy was a famous statement made by U.S. Democratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Lloyd Bentsen to Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator J. Danforth Quayle during the 1988 vice-presidential debate. ... James Danforth Dan Quayle (born February 4, 1947) was the 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush (1989-1993). ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the UK Labour Party, and Member of the UK Parliament... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. ...

See also

• Non-denial denial
• Buzzword
• Media clip
• Video clip