sound bite

sound bitenoun/ˈsaʊndbaɪt/

• 1

  broadcastingjournalismmediaAn extract from a speech or interview used as edited into a news or other broadcast; an interview clip, especially seen as particularly expressive or pithy.

  • The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudo-science and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.
• 2

  derogatoryA one-liner deliberately produced for this purpose; a statement specifically intended to be punchy and memorable.

  • The ground offensive against Iraq ended after 100 hours, partly out of concern that American troops not occupy an Arab capital, partly because Arab allies feared the disintegration of Iraq and partly because a “100-hour war” made a good sound bite.
  • President Obama disdains sound bites, and he does not have Bill Clinton’s talent for reducing the abstruse to aperçus.
• 3

  Synonym of sound clip.