Reusing Sound Bites at NBC News

There was a time in Network News the using an old soundbite or video from a previously aired story would probably get a producer fired. Not so in the new era. More and more you can watch nightly news reuse video days later with no date or file label and pass it off in copy as today.

Last night, Nightly News used the same sound bite of a family traveling that was delayed on Monday. But watching today they would get the impression they got delayed today.

Here’s a screenshot from Monday night’s broadcast:

And here is a screenshot from last night’s news on NBC:

When a network starts recycling soundbites, I really do wonder what is happening to this business.