Editing Shock jock (section)

{{Short description|Type of radio broadcaster}}
{{About|the type of radio broadcaster|the Australian television series|Shock Jock{{!}}''Shock Jock''}}
[[File:Howard Stern 2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Howard Stern]], whose radio shows popularized the term "shock jock"]]

A '''shock jock''' is a radio broadcaster or [[disc jockey|DJ]] who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent [[Radio presenter|broadcasters]] whose mannerisms, statements and actions are typically offensive to much of society. It is a popular term within the radio industry. A shock jock is the radio equivalent of the [[tabloid newspaper]] in that both consider entertaining their audience to be as important as—if not more important than—providing factual information. A radio station that relies primarily on shock jocks for programming has what is called a [[Talk radio#Hot talk|hot talk]] format.

The term is used in two broad, yet sometimes overlapping, contexts:

# The radio announcer who deliberately makes outrageous, controversial, or shocking statements, or does boundary-pushing stunts to improve ratings.
# The political radio announcer who has an emotional outburst in response to a controversial government policy decision.