The rise of sound-bite news is one of the most widely bemoaned findings in
political communication research. Yet, the detrimental effects of this trend
have been more assumed than demonstrated. This study examines one
consequence of sound-bite journalism: the creation of incomplete argument,
in which speakers presenting their political position in the news do not
also justify it. Drawing on data about television news in Germany, Russia,
and the United States, it shows that shrinking sound bites consistently
reduce the probability of opinion justification across widely differing
national contexts. Sound-bite journalism emerges as harmful to television
news' ability to produce public justification.