Sound Bite News: Television Coverage of Elections, 1968–1988

Abstract

Based on samples of network evening news broadcasts from each presidential election from 1968 through 1988, this article shows that the average sound bite has declined from 43 to 9 seconds. This change is interpreted as part of a general shift in the style of television news toward a more mediated, journalist-centered form of journalism. Three factors help explain this change: (a) the evolution of television “know-how,” (b) the weakening of political consensus and authority during the last 20 years, and (c) changes in the economics of the industry. This change has significant consequences for journalism in the 1990s.