One of the particular specializations of both state and private sector bureaucracies is a seemingly incurable proclivity for sound bite-driven pronouncements – attention-getters as these are referred to in media circles – designed to secure more elaborate repetition in the media in ways that massage their own egos. Some of our own bureaucrats, particularly those in the public sector, (Ministers, particularly, come to mind here) shamelessly indulge in the habit, altogether uncaring of what, all too frequently, is the gap between utterance and intention. Much of the reason why the media doesn’t altogether ignore this form of behaviour is that it almost often fits in with their pursuit of attention-getting utterances. These have the effect of getting attention and eliciting comment in a manner that run-of-the-mill pronouncements usually do. The propensity for sound bites, particularly among high officials is driven largely by a lack of appetite among many journalists for probing follow-up questions designed to, at least, test the sincerity of these sound bite–driven utterances.