shock jock

English

Etymology

shock +‎ jock(ey)

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

shock jock (plural shock jocks)

1. (slang) A deliberately offensive or provocative talk show host.
   • 1989 January 6, Robert Koehler, “The Word on 'Talk Radio' : Eric Bogosian Finds Story in the 'Fringe Element' of the Media”, in Los Angeles Times‎^[1]:

     “To slam a movie about hate radio for fostering hate is like saying that a movie about the Ku Klux Klan will foster the Klan,” he says, adding that the death threats against Barry Champlain, “Talk Radio’s” shock jock, are not the imaginings of a feverish, Hollywood-inspired imagination.

   • 2021 February 10, Michael M. Grynbaum, Tiffany Hsu, Katie Robertson, Keith Collins, quoting Michael Harrison, “How Right-Wing Radio Stoked Anger Before the Capitol Siege”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     “We always had shock jocks,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of the talk-radio trade magazine Talkers. “But then we had a shock president.”

   • 2023 February 12, Motoko Rich, Hikari Hida, “A Yale Professor Suggested Mass Suicide for Old People in Japan. What Did He Mean?”, in The New York Times‎^[3], →ISSN:

     Appearing frequently on Japanese online shows in T-shirts, hoodies or casual jackets, and wearing signature eyeglasses with one round and one square lens, Dr. Narita leans into his Ivy League pedigree as he fosters a nerdy shock jock impression.

Further reading

• shock jock on Wikipedia.Wikipedia