The 1980s: Campaign ads, catchphrases, and the birth of the 8-second soundbite
This piece is the first in a five-part series tracing the evolution of soundbite culture and how it’s shaped the way we consume information, debate ideas, and trust (or don’t trust) the media. Each decade tells a different part of the story. This series starts with the 1980s, when political campaigns, corporate advertising, and media consolidation collided to shrink our attention spans post-Cronkite era journalism. From there, I’ll look at the 1990s tabloid boom and reality-TV era, the rise of the internet in the 2000s, the weaponization of social media in the 2010s, and finally, the algorithm-driven attention economy of today. Together, these chapters reveal not only how our media ecosystem has transformed, but how it’s changed our society and psychology at the same time.
The death of critical thinking
Debates, in all forms, used to hinge on facts, context, and persuasion. Now, facts themselves are treated as weapons, used only when they reinforce the arguer’s side, and often dismissed as “fake news” when they don’t.
We now duel through social media memes, TikToks, emojis, and comment chains–often sharing outrageous content before verifying it. Think about the evolution of presidential debates, for instance. Complex policy questions have become condensed into soundbites like “eating cats” and “woke slurs,” and later recirculated as punchlines and weaponized in both mainstream news media and social media discussions.
Whether the platform is a presidential debate stage or a Facebook post, there’s become a staunch refusal to admit when one side has more to learn. Disagreements based on opinion are nothing new, but when facts collide with beliefs, acknowledgement now gets replaced by deflection, denial, and a culture of gaslighting that turns every exchange into a battle for dominance rather than understanding.
This culture continues to divide society, leaving us walking on eggshells in all facets of our life. But this extreme polarization isn’t an accident—it’s the logical endpoint of 40 years of shrinking conversations into slogans and memorable phrases to appeal to soundbite culture.
Amy Koczera: Strategic Writer & Storyteller 