View source for Public affairs (broadcasting)

{{short description|Element of public broadcasting}}
{{For|other uses of "public affairs"|public affairs (disambiguation)}}

In [[broadcasting]], '''public affairs''' [[Radio broadcasting|radio]] or [[television program]]s focus on matters of [[politics]] and [[public policy]]. In the United States, among [[commercial broadcaster]]s, such programs are often only to satisfy [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) regulatory expectations and are not [[Broadcast programming|scheduled]] in [[prime time]].  Public affairs television programs are often broadcast at times when few listeners or viewers are tuned in (or even awake) in time slots known as [[graveyard slot]]s; such programs can be frequently encountered at times such as 5-6 a.m. on a Sunday. [[Sunday morning talk show]]s are a notable exception to this obscure scheduling.

[[Harvard University]] claims that the public affairs genre has been losing popularity since the beginning of the [[digital era]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Aufderheide|first=Pat|url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Public%20Broadcasting%20and%20Public%20Affairs_MR.pdf|title=Public Broadcasting & Public Affairs|last2=Clark|first2=Jessica|others=Editorial participation by Jake Shapiro|year=2008|location=[[Harvard University]]|pages=2}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />

==See also==
*[[News broadcasting]]
*[[Public service announcement]] (PSA)
*[[Sunday morning talk show]]

{{Broadcasting}}
{{Parliamentary broadcasters}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Affairs (Broadcasting)}}
[[Category:Radio broadcasting]]
[[Category:Television genres]]
[[Category:Television terminology]]
[[Category:Public sphere|Affairs]]
[[Category:Influence of mass media]]


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