Logocentrism

In captioning studies, the systematic prioritization of speech and spoken language over non-speech sounds in captioning practices and technologies. Logocentrism in captioning manifests as speech captions receiving more attention, resources, and technical development than non-speech information (NSI) captions, even when non-speech sounds carry significant narrative meaning. This bias is evident in automatic captioning systems (e.g., early YouTube auto-captions captured only speech), in FCC regulations that provide detailed speech captioning requirements but vague NSI guidance, and in production practices where environmental sounds, music, and sound effects are inconsistently or inadequately described. The term highlights how captioning systems reflect and reinforce the assumption that speech is the primary carrier of meaning in audio-visual media.