Origins and links

The soundbite has always been a feature of media reporting. When a

political actor is interviewed, or when they give a statement or produce

a manifesto or policy document, sentences are extracted by broadcasters

that fit with the framing and agenda of the subsequent report. The length

of the soundbite has been reduced drastically over the last four decades

since the 1960s, leading political actors to begin inserting them directly

into speeches themselves, in an attempt to control the coverage of

speeches. Thus a feature of modern speeches is that one brief, vivid phrase may stand out amid much less lucid and more opaque detail; this would be the phrase the writer wants to be inserted into the reports in the

media. This is a central feature of modern news management.

The politician argued to have first used soundbites in a strategic

manner is US President John F. Kennedy; his famous ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’

(I am a Berliner) spoken to offer his solidarity to West Germans living in the shadow of the Berlin Wall remains paradigmatic of his period of

office. In 1964 and 1966 UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson picked up on this style, using it effectively in his first two successful election

campaigns. Subsequent political advisors recorded the necessity for

devising a ‘simple phrase that could be used in speeches, quoted by the

media and generally stick in the public mind’ (Day, 1982: 8). Over the

last two decades since the 1980s soundbites have become a central

feature of speeches, subsequent media reports, and are a staple skill

required for writing political communication.

The soundbite is central to the notions of professionalised

communication. The use of key phrases to attract media attention, and so

control coverage, is as much part of the postmodern election and

permanent campaign, as leafleting was and is. Any political speech that is publicly available will contain a soundbite, probably several, and it is

currently argued that it is impossible for politicians to speak without there being soundbites embedded within their conversation style. Most political actors appear in control during interviews and intersperse their arguments with memorable phrases designed for posterity. Some argue that soundbites have now become virtually subconscious thoughts made aloud, one example being Tony Blair’s well reported, and often pilloried comment: ‘this is not a day for soundbites, for today I feel the hand of history upon us’, on leaving the Stormont building following the brokering of the Good Friday Agreement, so beginning a ceasefire between Northern Irish paramilitaries. Success can be difficult to measure; however, when considering their use and pick-up

rate it can be indicative to locate hard copies of speeches, identify the

soundbites and then check the media for their appearance.