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Subscribe to RSSStill in shock that nurse Jacintha Saldhana took her life after being tricked by the Australian radio hosts' imitation of the Queen, the two DJs – whose radio show has been canceled – said they are 'gutted' and 'heartbroken.' NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
Updated at 6:50 p.m. ET: CANBERRA, Australia -- Two Australian radio announcers who made a prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate broke a three-day silence Monday to speak of their distress over the death of the nurse who took their call.
The 2DayFM Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, said the tragedy had left them "shattered, gutted, heartbroken."
Greig and fellow presenter and prank mastermind Christian have been in hiding since nurse Jacintha Saldanha's death and the subsequent social media outrage at their prank. Saldanha's death is being treated as unexplained while an investigation takes place.
Greig told the “Today Tonight” program on Australia’s Channel 7 that her first thought when told of Saldanha's death was for her family.
Prank-call radio station suspends DJs, ads; dead nurse's family 'deeply saddened'
"Unfortunately I remember that moment very well, because I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened," she said, amid tears and her voice quavering with emotion. "I remember my first question was 'was she a mother?'"
"I've wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry. I hope they're OK, I really do. I hope they get through this," said a black-clad Greig when asked about Saldanha's two children, left grieving her death with their father Ben Barboza.
Details of Kate's condition disclosed
Saldanha, 46, was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital on Friday, three days after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters.
A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers.
But news of Saldanha's death sparked the Internet firestorm, with vitriolic comments toward the DJs on Facebook and Twitter.
Christian said his only wish was that Saldanha's grief-stricken family received proper support.
"I hope that they get the love, the support, the care that they need, you know," said Christian, who like Greig struggled to talk about the tragedy.
Radio station owner calls death of nurse who took royal prank call 'truly tragic'
In a statement, the radio station's parent company, Southern Cross Austero, said it had suspended advertising on 2Day FM until further notice, ended the two DJs’ Hot 30 program, suspended prank calls across the company, and begun a comprehensive review of relevant company policies and practices.
"The company does not consider that the broadcast of the segment has breached any relevant law, regulation or code. The company will fully cooperate with any investigations," the statement said.
'Processes in place'
Both Greig, 30, and Christian were relatively new to the station, with Greig joining in March and Christian having been in the job only a few days before the prank call after a career in regional radio.
They said the idea for the call had come from a team meeting before the show. Greig said she did not think their prank would work.
"We thought 100 people before us would've tried it. We thought it was such a silly idea and the accents were terrible and not for a second did we expect to speak to Kate, let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on," she said.
The DJs said the protocols established by the radio station’s parent company were followed before the phone call was made.
“There are processes in place,” Christian said.
Christian drew headlines only two weeks before the royal prank call by angering fellow passengers with a harmonica-playing stunt aboard pop star Rihanna's private jet.
Complaints pour in
Southern Cross Austereo has received more than 1,000 complaints from Australians over the actions of the popular presenters.
Nurse who was duped by prank call about Duchess Kate found dead
King Edward VII hospital in London is still reeling from being seriously punked by two radio DJ's who called and spoke to Kate's nurse. Meanwhile, the two Australians DJs apologized for their hoax. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.
The station said it had tried to contact hospital staff five times over the recordings.
"It is absolutely true to say that we actually did attempt to contact those people on multiple occasions," said Southern Cross Austereo chief executive Rhys Holleran.
"No one could have reasonably foreseen what has happened. I can only say the prank call is not unusual around the world," he said.
John Lofthouse, chief executive of King Edward VII's Hospital, on Monday night issued a statement on the death of Saldanha, calling her "an outstanding nurse and a dearly loved colleague. " He said a memorial fund has been established in her name.
Lofthouse added:
"I know that the family have received huge support from their local community and church. We will be holding a memorial service for Jacintha later this week.
We understand that the family are distraught and need time to reflect on the assistance they require. King Edward VII's Hospital will remain here for them whenever, wherever and however they need us."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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It seems to me that the radio station knew that these two were going to make the prank call. Considering they said the idea was discussed in a team meeting before the show. As well as following protocols. Not only that, apparently similar calls are not unusual around the world. According to the Chief executive Rhys Holleran. So management was aware the possibility existed for this to occur. To now say, they didn't think about the ramifications if the call was successful, I just don't buy. They surely must have thought about the fall out.
The Australian equivalent of the American FCC doesn't have specific rules in place for these kind of call, only guidelines. In the U.S., you're not allowed to prank call and then publish without the permission of the person pranked. That's an actual rule. When you hear someone replayed on the air that has called in to a request line, there is no requirement for gaining their permission to publish as it is assumed they knew there was a liklihood of their conversation be replayed and even edited. This is incredibly unfortunate that this woman was so distraught over being duped that she apparently took her own life, but I find it a bit over the top to lay all of the blame for this on the two dj's. I know of much worse things that have occurred including a woman contestant that died of water intoxication at a U.S. station while playing "hold your wee for a wii.
everywhere in the world if you do something that results in a death, regardless of your intent, it's manslaughter.... and saying I'm sorry, doesn't get you out of it....
this is a carefully scripted ploy by the DJs and Radio station management to avoid civil suits and local officials efforts to charge them criminally....
don't fall for this crap.... they knew they were humiliating people and potentially endangering their careers when they did it.... and they didn't care what happened to them then as long as they got ratings from it....
This whole event was modified bullying. How sad for everyone involved. BTW, I do not believe they are sorry it happened. Or that the nurse has passed on. I believe they are sorry it backfired.
I'm still trying to figure out what they said to the nurse to cause her to commit suicide. The article just says they made a prank call and are sorry for the nurses death. What could they say to the nurse to cause her to commit suicide? I mean, what could be that bad? I am not defending what the DJ's did, but what did they say??
They are only sorry it affected them but hopefully they get banned for life from any media position.
@brenda1964 They didn't say anything to the nurse to make her commit suicide. All they did was pretend to be the Queen checking on how the Princess was doing. That's it.
For what? What did they say that was so bad? What? If your going to ban someone, at least let us know what they said that was so bad.
To mention on what people are saying about the ladies death. There is something here that I haven't seen mentioned. The DJs are in Australia and the resulting death occured in England. I may be wrong in my thoughts but this sounds like it would fall under International Laws. It may be that these 2 people could be extradited to England for Trial.
Geez, the whole thing was a joke taken totally out of context. Yes it is tragic that the nurse who put the call through committed suicide, but can you really blame this prank for her death?
Manslaughter, really oldhamletman? A bit of a stretch don't ya think? Bullying Toni, REALLY???
Most hospitals nowadays give family members a code word or something of the like to give to hospital staff to inquire about a patient or be put through to their room when called by phone. This hospital was dealing with a celebrity; shouldn't they have seen something like this coming? I mean the royals are a target for jokes constantly. Sounds like a break down of security on the hospital's part to me. And if you've heard the recording, like the DJ's said, the accents were horrible and obviously faked.
And MSNBC's closing line of this article, "The fallout from the radio stunt has brought back memories in Britain of the death of William's mother Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 and threatens to cast a pall over the birth of his and Kate's first child." REALLY??? Are you kidding me. How melodramatic!!!!!!
Again I say, it is tragic that the nurse died, but my goodness....
CAN'T ANYONE TAKE A JOKE ANYMORE????
The royals need to get over themselves!!!!!!!!!
And why should they be tried 6dogs? Given the content of the "prank," no ill intent was ever said or inferred. At this point we don't know what caused (for sure) this woman to take her life. Even if it were from the call, it is not the fault of the DJ's the woman took this extreme action. I don't think anyone in the world would have thought this would have happened as a result of the call. You can't know all possible outcomes before the event. The woman chose to do this to herself. At no time did the DJ's encourage her to take her life. So often in incidents like this, people try to lay blame on only one party, never is this actually true.
Brenda1964, it's not what the DJs said, it's the effect it had on the nurse. Cause and effect.
Actions have consequences whether they were foreseen or not. The DJs must have been laughing because someone fell for their prank. The nurse was humiliated. Human nature will have people ridiculing her children. These DJs didn't think.
I don't buy that they are sorry. Crocodile tears make it even more pitiful. Frankly, I'm glad they will have to live with this. Maybe they will think twice before they play games with people.
On what charges?
Bullying via radio = diss-jockies
It's time to call a halt to bullying via radio. Being smarta$$es makes money for those who have no class, but their arrogance and disrespect is much worse than juvenile behavior. Just because it is done does not make it respectful of the space of others.
"If we had any involvement in her death...." they are "gutted, shattered, and heartbroken...." Right. And those who take up for them feel sorry for their feeling this way? What about the nurse, her family, the hospital staff, friends, and William and Kate? They are shattered how many days after the radio station has lost advertisers and then finally fired them?
All the right words with nothing behind them to give them honest meaning - sounds like the losers in the recent US political campaigns.
If you read the article Saldanha didn't say anything. She put the call through to another nurse.
@brenda1964 ....
they fooled her into transferring their call to Middletons ward by impersonating the Queen and Prince Charles...
then, they repeatedly played the recording of her being fooled on air, and it went viral and was on youtube etc. and made papers worldwide
then they taunted her for being so stupid on their twitter accounts...
she was a nurse at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world, was counted on for her professionalism and discretion, and was fooled into a very embarrassing incident that called into question her integrity publicly throughout the world.... then she was taunted about it....
for some people, their career and personal reputation means a lot, and believe me, in the modern world where everything is googlable for life, her career that demands discretion was damaged for life.... she undoubtedly overreacted... but certainly and obviously, what the DJs did was the last straw...
@zapain,
oh it's unlikely to go to criminal court, but the local prosecutor is trying to figure out something as he said on TV yesterday.... but if you do something negligent, like leave something dangerous in your yard, and somebody trips and falls on it, your intent doesn't matter legally, the fact that someone was harmed matters.... these DJs intentionally harmed peoples reputations, publicized it world wide, used it for personal gain, and taunted the victims of their prank....
it wasn't funny at all... these DJ prank calls that fake things like spouses having affairs and tax audits and peoples houses being on fire never are... unless you are a sociopath that thinks the humiliation and suffering of others is funny....
oh, and BTW it has zero to do with the royals and everything to do with these idiot DJs
It was a PRANK
The Djs are NOT responsible if someone feels humiliated enough to commit suicide. The nurse in this case over-reacted in the extreme. Humiliation is common in most people's lives. If you've never felt humiliation then you've never stepped up and tried to do anything!
Dj's around the world are paid to entertain an audience. They try to figure out ways to engage their listeners and making people smile or laugh, lightening their spirits is fundamental to the job they do. That someone inadvertently got caught up in prank gone awry shouldn't result in people being prosecuted. Are we going to begin a war on humor now? GOOD G*D! We are so pathetically caught up in being politically correct that we have completely lost sight of reality. LIFE happens, we need to be realistic in our expectations. Just because an entire generation was raised to believe that no one ever loses doesn't make it so!
I am sorry for the suffering the nurse's family is enduring right now but the act of taking her own life was selfish, and I condemn her to it...BIG IF here, IF SHE REALLY DID commit suicide which we still don't know!
I've worked in the radio industry. I have witnessed and even took part in some "prank" calls. They were always in good fun and more times than not, the duped person laughed it off. I really don't believe these DJ's had any intention of fooling anyone with their terrible accents, but because the nurse did patch them through, they did what any DJ would do, they rolled with it. I totally believe they are sorry that their actions caused the nurse to end her life and only kept their silence for several days because the company lawyers told them to. There was no malice other than to embarass someone; it is a shame that the nurse took her embarassment to another level. This is not the first time a radio station stunt has ended poorly. If you feel like someone should be punished, then it should be the companies who allow these radio shows to perform such stunts. The DJ's have to run their ideas by their directors and producers.
correction for post #1.13......the radio station has NOT fired them.....wow.
oh, and BTW.... in that video they cried and said they were heartbroken, but they did NOT:
- apologize
- say that they were wrong in any way
- take any responsibility for the joke or it's continued airings, blaming it on management
- acknowledge their tweets and comments on air taunting the two nurses for being so stupid
it was basically them crying, trying to look emotional, and saying nothing about what they did... I hope they end up in jail
oh, and to those who think that she just coincidentally died of some other cause 48 hours after being humiliated world wide..... I've got some swamp land to sell you
then they taunted her for being so stupid on their twitter accounts....
Did they go so far as to do that? I hadn't heard about that part.
If it's true, it certainly makes them look more outright malicious rather than just stupid and unthinking.
I listened to the call online. The nurse that allegedly committed suicide was barely involved. I wonder how hard the hospital came down on her for not realizing it was a hoax. If the hospital was blaming her, I can maybe see suicide. Feels like there has to be something more that would have triggered such a rash decision than the call I heard.
oldhamletman, You nailed it..........
lynsey
I'm sure the hospital came down hard on both of them. If they hadn't been fired they were probably on suspension with their future employment in doubt.
And no, I'm sure the DJ's didn't think anyone would kill themself over this. But would have been OK? Would it have been OK if the nurses had just been fired? Not able to get other jobs as a nurse at another hospital? If they had been demoted and made clear they had no future at that hospital? Would that have been OK? And ff course they didn't think they'd get hung-up on. How would getting immediately hung up on make for an entertaining segment? They were hoping that they got exactly as far as they did. Claiming otherwise now is a bit disingenuous.
And here we have the conundrum.
At first this whole mess was driven by all the people who created this hysteria when it was just a prank. I don't remember anyone decrying the DJ's at first. It was funny, it was witty, it was "viral"! Of course you all remember reading about it and having your own opinions as to how funny it was that they actually got through. Who were the idiots that couldn't tell that their accents were phony. You all had your laugh or ridicule unleashed. The media, of course, was complicit in this whole mess promoting it on their broadcasts or on their blogs. Facebook, Twitter, IM's and texting was going crazy. No one was scolding the DJ's about their prank. It was a joke, a prank, a harmless prank.
Then a death occurred and it was associated with the prank. Now all of a sudden everyone is outraged, shocked and opinionated about a harmless prank.
You can deny it, but you're all involved. The internet and 24/7 media allowed everyone to be part of this tragedy. You can blame the DJ's all you want, but if the masses didn't turn this into an "internet hit" much of this may have not happened.
If that is all that happened was a prank call that got through to the RN then I am confused as to why she committed suicide and why we are making a big deal out of this. Actions do have consequences, but this is taking it to the extreme. Brits sure do love their drama. Maybe the hospital was coming down on her really heavy for making a fool of them and she couldn't take it thinking she was going to lose her job. The news says they do not have all the facts yet.
Funny thing, Rush Limbah can call a woman a whore on national radio and he still has a job, but pretend to be the Queen and Charles and your fired. Wow, what a crazy mixed up world. Not sure what happened to it. Back in my day, we had tough skin, now days everyone acts like spoiled children who can't even wipe their own runny noses.
Now in addition they should be in chains hauled off to face the Queen. Now that would be justice,
Leave Katie alone, is it not enough for you bloodsucking media to have Princess Di's blood on your hands. Do you have to make complete arssses out of you so called occupation. God Bless the Queen..
Brenda I do not beleive that Rush ever called any woman a whore, I beleive her called her a slut. Now there is a difference.
John, you can believe what you want, but it was all over the news and I heard the radio playback. Not sure what you mean by
but oh well. Even so, some can't take a joke as is evident by your statements.
Makes me wonder Your pranks involve someone elses life and are not your right to committ. It is time for you to grow up and learn to respect the rights of others to not be the unwilling source of your entertainment.Brenda Hospitals have very strong patient privacy rules. In the US they are called HIPPA rules and no doctor, nurse, aide, lab tech or even housekeeping aide is ever allowed to talk about a patient. Hospitals are supposed to be places where a patient is cared for in privacy not put on exhibit for your amusement. As for Rush Limbaugh and Sandra Fluke by American law Sandra Fluke gave up her privacy rights when she made a political statement about the HHS mandate and so became fair game by choice. She may not have understood that but the circumstances are totally different.
I don't see how a nurse can take her life over a prank call and how the DJs are responsible for her death. It is a distraction to blame the DJs.
Brenda there are somethings in life that one should not prank. how would you like it if your POTUS was pranked to the point that he could not show his face in public without humilitation. It seems that you think that it was okay to humilate the mother of a child when her own own mother was hounded into the ground by you Americans. BTW calling her a slut was no different then you liberals saying that all Republicians were waging a war against all women.
I beleive the conservatives in the States were engaging in an assualt only on sluts. Besides the behavior of the DJ's struck me as what a teenager would possibly do. The radio station knew full well what the DJ's were going to do and thought it was cute and funny. But unlike you yanks, some members of the Commonwealth actually have a little class left in them and dont beleive that trying to humulaite a pregant woman is cute or funny.
I have heard prank calls FAR worse than this one. I have heard prank calls where the target breaks down and crys on the radio. I once heard a call where they told some guy his house was on fire. This one was mild and was not something you would expect a stable person to commit suicide over if that's what really happend.
This situation was, in a way, the same as bullying. It's time people think how they may be affecting another person when they do things that are humiliating.
when will we get to the point that using innocent people as pawns for our own entertainment is not socially or culturally acceptable?
Look, I believe no one thought that this could happen. But that's the point isn't it. We just aren't thinking. I wonder about Saldanha's support structure. This obviously devastated her self-image. Have you listened to morning radio shows?! They are horrible. There is a huge lack of empathy on the radio and TV overall. But there is also a lack of empathy overall in the world these days. We aren't kind to our own neighbors, much-less men and women an ocean away.
It's the holiday season. For me that means Christmas. I would hope that this time of the year we could think about how year round we can bring more empathy into the world. Maybe if we stopped listening/watching radio that makes ratings by humiliating others that they don't know, we could reduce the pain in the world.
A prank is when someone gets a good scare or a good laugh and everyone laughs. Even if someone is so embarrassed that they go into hiding for days, it is still a prank. If you want to see a lot of good pranks, go watch re-runs of Candid Camera with Alan Funt. No one got injured, no one died and everyone had a good laugh about it later.
It is no longer a prank when someone is injured or killed. Remember Tyler Clementi, the student at Rutgers? His roommate went to jail for 30 days over that little stunt.
I believe the nurse upset was violation of HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). It protects privacy and security of protected health information by healthcare providers. The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities to implement policies and procedures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of PHI. This does not allow you to give out any information on any person under the care of said provider. In this case it was the hospital.
England has a similar hospital policy and procedure in place. They call theirs the Data Protection Act. In the USA no information can be provided over the phone, to anyone. In England they can provide the condition of a loved one to close family members. However, if it is not a close family member, they would not be allowed to provide them any information.
When HIPAA polices are violated, mistreatment of this information carries administrative, civil and criminal penalties.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/solutions-managing-your-practice/coding-billing-insurance/hipaahealth-insurance-portability-accountability-act/hipaa-violations-enforcement.page
This was a good nurse, according to the hospital, and her co-workers. This nurse was doing her job and thought the information she was providing was to a close family member. The betrayal she must have felt when she found out it was a prank and played over and over was most likely her undoing.
Who's to say the British government didn't kill the nurse and make it look like a suicide for giving out private information, publicly? Stranger things have happened, look at Diana, they want to blame that on a paparazzi, that they still haven't found?
John Q Public-6353273
But unlike you yanks, some members of the Commonwealth actually have a little class left in them and dont beleive that trying to humulaite a pregant woman is cute or funny.
What difference is it whether she is pregnant or not? The "Commonwealths" sensationalistic media are the ones who brought this out into the public eye. When you want your tabloids and Paparazzi to benefit from all this royalty nonsense you need to be able to handle the publics response to it.
Besides, this is just a regular pregnancy, its just a fetus so far, a clump of cells. No big deal.
I think one point a lot of people are missing is that this nurse didn't just mistakenly put a call through to some random famous person. It was the royal family, and in Britian, they are very protective of their royals. I'm sure that nurse was made to feel like an idiot for falling for the prank, and the endless replaying of it probably dug it in deeper. We in the US have a really hard time understanding this. I personally can't imagine committing suicide and leaving my children over something like this, but I also am not in her shoes and have no idea of what she may have been going through. My heart breaks for this nurse and anyone who feels that they have no other choice but to end their own life. I can't imagine ever being that much misery.
Regarding the prank, on one hand, I feel like there is no way these DJ's could have ever forseen that this nurse would take her own life. However, they had to expect that, if they were successful, any staff involved would likely be fired or suffer serious consequenses, beyond humiliation. And for that reason alone, they should never have tried such a stunt. When you have the potential to harm another person's life in any way, just stop. No matter how great the ratings would have been, there is no reason I can think of that would justify such a prank. And, although it isn't mentioned in any article, I read somewhere that the prank had been approved by the radio's attorneys, which is really amazing to me. I do believe they are truely sorry that their actions caused this tragedy. How can any person with even the tiniest bit of compassion not be affected by such a thing? But I think it is a sad reflection on these people that they didn't worry about how such a prank would affect the staff involved.
"oldhamletman
everywhere in the world if you do something that results in a death, regardless of your intent, it's manslaughter.... and saying I'm sorry, doesn't get you out of it....
this is a carefully scripted ploy by the DJs and Radio station management to avoid civil suits and local officials efforts to charge them criminally...."
THANK YOU...WELL SAID. In a world where nobody wants to be accountable for their actions anymore, it looks, again, like the media will spin this into their favor. Bottom line. Both D.J.'s were very aware of their actions and who it involved. I think the most Incredulous statement comes from the D.J. :
""I've wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry. I hope they're okay, I really do. I hope they get through this,"
If your so sorry then try giving half of your paycheck from now on to the children for support and how about helping with the expense for their college. Will you be there when they have "mom" questions that only mom can answer. How about showing up in the middle of the night when one of the kids have a nightmare and needs a "HUG" you so easily want to give them.
As bad as it is to judge these people, this entire debacle cries out with the lack of professional code and ethic that comes from journalism these days. The media reaches a new low every day.
This is all a big bunch of B.S. The pranksters called in saying they were the queen, the nurse died a day or so later- not on the spot as if from some major shock.
What really happened is the media drew a line between the death to the prank as if that was the cause. It's a coincidence and nothing more can be deduced without solid facts. Instead, the media is running away with this, spinning it into some international intrigue with people everywhere getting their dander up over it. Calm down! Let it go!
Yes,Yet more MSNBC tabloid style guff to deflect what is really going on, avoiding the "Cliff", the progress of the cleanup efforts from Sandy,etc.
Yeah, Christian was so heartbroken he couldn't even button up his shirt or put on a damn tie to show some respect. Total. Loser.
@ John Q. Public, who wrote: "But unlike you yanks, some members of the commonwealth actually have a little class left in them and don't believe that trying to humiliate a pregnant woman is cute or funny."
Are you a basic knob, or just dense? I presume that, when you are talking about how vastly much more "classy" the "commonwealth" people are over us poor, ignorant yanks... that you ARE referring to these two classy AUSTRALIAN DJ's... right?
Yankee Doodle Dandy!!!!
:)
When people stop laughing.
I concur with sighber - my thoughts exactly. My deepest sympathy goes out to the nurse's family, the DJ's, and frankly everyone else involved in this stunt gone awry. I personally would never do what was done here by either the DJ's or the nurse, including the taking of one's own life. But it is truly a sad outcome for what was really just a silly prank - and one that probably, in hindsight, wasn't such a good idea considering they were dealing with high profile persons.
Well said Gary!
Hey John Q....Glad we could be of help saving your poor limey As— from the Germans while you "dignified Blabs" enjoyed your spot of tea!. (yes you still eat LImey beans) Was it your British class from BP that tried to cover up the Gulf oil spill or how about your British Bank HSBC that manipulated the Libor Rate to screw American credit card holders out of billions then plead no contest and cover it up. Or how about your British Prince that killed his Princess and got away with it. As much as I love Britain and visit it regularly, I always save room for the Pompous As— like yourself, just wish I would have ran into you on the "Tube"....watch the gap ol' sap!
One last tidbit for you John Q...Australian Law, very similar to English Law. You cannot tape record someone in a conversation and play it on the air without their knowledge and consent. The law is very clear . Both D.J.'s and their superiors are accountable. The lawyers for the Station vetted the tape and approved it which means they also broke the law. Unfortunately for people like you and them, there are laws to control actions you refuse to take responsibility for. If they are found guilty, and watch the outcome here Limey....they are guilty of breaking Australian national laws, the penalty is a minimum of 5 years and a felony. Even their media rich arrogant bosses can't protect them. England on the other hand has finished the investigation and are handling this very carefully, as they will be going after the couple for a possible break in international law. But please don't listen too this "ignorant Yank", try doing a little reseacrh on your own first before opening the pie-hole... :)
So, if you fire somebody, and that person then kills themself, you can be charged with manslaughter?
I'm sorry, tell me again what these DJ's did wrong? They did a prank call. No, it wasn't a prank call that said there was a bomb, or called 911 services, or something equally affecting. If that was the case then they did something that created external damage.
But they pretended in voice to be someone else. And? I'm sorry this nurse committed suicide. Terrible and my heart goes out to her family. But what did the DJ's do? They made a phone call. If anything what SHE did was not protocol. She made a mistake. Sorry, it happens. And I am sure the hospital and her friends told her it was "mean" what the DJ's did but just let it go. She couldn't. But what responsibility do the DJ's have? None. Zilch. Nada.
If we have to start worrying about how someone ELSE reacts our society is gone. If a person honks at someone at an intersection and they let it bother themselves so bad they commit suicide how is the person that honked responsible for that? What if a person calls a bowling alley and asks them if they have 8 lb balls, and being told "yes", replies with "then how are you able to walk?" how is THAT person responsible if the person at the bowling alley commits suicide?
Don't get me wrong - I understand the difference in the examples but what the DJ's did was nothing more than "pranksters" have done for years. When George Bush Sr. was just in the hospital and say a DJ called in (and got information) then the person at the hospital who gave information would be embarrassed. But keep in mind it would be the person at the HOSPITAL that didn't do their job - not the DJ's.
So why this demand the DJ's are held responsible? They did nothing wrong!! The nurse should not have released information via phone call - regardless who it was. Once we as a society are being held responsible for how OTHER people react to comments, rejection, etc. then our society can longer survive.
OldHamlet...I think you can claim manslaughter if the conduct committed could reasonably result in somebodies death regardless of intent. I think it is a stretch to say death by suicide due to a prank thousands of miles away is the fault of these DJ's. What they did is in bad taste of course and probably very embarrassing for this nurse, but the choices she made to end her life was not a rational one under the circumstances. Manslaughter would more so apply to vehicular homicide or some other type of accidental death, not one caused by psychological trauma committed by people half a world away.
Well all I can say is this poor Nurse must have had more going on in her life to take this drastic action and leave her children motherless, merely putting a phone call through does not, on the surface, seem enough to cause this action.
As for the pranks I see a lot of people above me who must have NEVER carried out a prank or a practical joke for all the self righteous comments, sounds very much like "Who is with out sin cast the first stone" situation. I have played practical jokes in my time.
There was no way anyone could have foreseen this outcome. Do we now have to ban programs like Candid Camera or Punked. Perhaps we need to ban America's Funniest Home Videos, who knows what Grandma might do after the video of her slipping with the birthday cake is aired? Halloween might also scare someone to death so ban that as well while we are at it. . . .
Also no, this would not be seen as Manslaughter every where else in the world.
This kind of deceit and lies that are similar to "Pranks" are promulgated daily over the American cable network by Fox News who is also owned by an Austrailian named Rupert Murdock. Rupert's companies engaged in cell phone hacking and even hacked a dead girls phone to learn juicy tidbits of her life and those important to her. We need to rain-in these out of control Aussies and stop them from exploiting their broadcast mediums and others who are vunerable as well. I say the international court awards huge huge monetary judgements against in them in favor of the victims. Those children of the dead nurse will need support until they finish college and become employed.
So your saying that she gave up her rights to Rush Limbagh to call her a whore? That's like saying since a woman dresses a certain way, then she gives up her right to not be raped. That is just plain and simple nonsense. And as for John, again I say you need to get a backbone. If a prank call would cause you to go all to peaces and kill yourself then there is something wrong with you to begin with. Grow up and deal with the world instead of acting like a child. This doesn't mean i condone as i stated earlier what the two DJ's did, but now you want to go overboard on them to the opposite extreme. Again I say grow up and act accordingly, not like a right wing wacko.
Yes, these kinds of prank calls are common around the world, and usually they're funny or irritating. But when they go this wrong, that's when people get outraged. Unfortunately, it's exceedingly difficult to predict beforehand how it will be perceived, especially one to the depths of this tragedy.
Renee-Norther CA "I believe the nurse upset was violation of HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). It protects privacy and security of protected health information by healthcare providers. The HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities to implement policies and procedures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of PHI. This does not allow you to give out any information on any person under the care of said provider. In this case it was the hospital."
That might be the case if this were to have happened in the US. However, this happened in the UK and they, even with similar laws, do give out information to close family members over the phone. HIPAA is only a US thing. They have something similar, but it doesn't prevent something like this from happening like HIPAA does here.
While the outcome of the DJ's prank call was heartbreaking, stunts like this have been a staple of radio antics since the advent of the medium. This was relatively tame compared to some of Howard Stern's schtick, which could result in a similar reaction if he embarrassed the wrong person. I'm not excusing their behavior, but I don't think the DJ's should be subjected to the somewhat knee jerk, hateful scorn they've had to deal with, which I believe is due in large part to the fact that the incident involved beloved, untouchable royalty, who should never be subjected to such lowly, petty practical jokes, no matter how outwardly harmless. No royal secrets were revealed, despite the fact that the nurse was fooled by less than convincing jokesters. To the best of my knowledge, until now, no one has taken their life in response to being tweaked by radio DJs, so this is not something they could even remotely foresee. Again, please don't interpret this as justification for their behavior. and by no means am I downplaying the tragic outcome. Just try to put the incident in perspective.
It is sad that someone took their own life over this . I do wonder though why someone that was obviously with some real mental issues was doing nursing people in the first place . If the nurse did not have mental issues then the suicide would not of taken place . Yet this person was dealing with peoples health and welfare .
It's pure speculation that she took her own life. The cause of death remains unknown.
I agree with you about her mental condition the DJ's are not at fault here,what I want to know is how she died? and if she did kill her-self then why was she taking care of sick people ???
Howard, suicide can be a cultural issue as well. For some families, to lose one's job or to fail at one's job is to let the whole family down, and there are some who see that as a very serious thing. I'm not saying that I agree with suicide for "failure" (and I personally would not class this poor woman's mistake as some kind of life failure, either), but some people do see it that way. She was not necessarily "mentally ill" and incapable of being an effective nurse. Everyone who worked with her had lovely things to say about her.
Silver the DJ's do not have the right to play childish games with other peoples lives and privacy. I really fear for a culture with so little respect for the rights of others as the one you seem to accept. Hospitals have very different rules about acceptable behavior in regards to patient rights and privacy which BTW are backed up by force of law in some places. You can be sued for violating the rules No one not even the cleaning ladies are ever allowed to discuss a patient. If you are an American pull up the HIPPA rules and read them I don't know how strict they are in England. It is time for this cultutre to grow up and learn to respect each others rights. You are no longer children.
Hello Howard,
True to your lack of comprehension. There is a fine line between reality and reason. Most make it through life every day without a hiccup. Some show it by overreacting with their kid in the grocery store for a minor outburst, some show it on the freeway when they get cut off, some hold it in until one day they go "postal". Remember Howard....there is a fine line between reality and reason.
Lee hit the nail on the head!
Remember, this is perhaps the most highly publicized pregnancy in the world at the moment involving one of the most famous or well-known women in the world. If that person is in your care, it's likely to magnify anything that might be perceived to have gone "wrong."
These young DJ"S are mean,clueless,childish and now jobless as they should be.This pranking and punking people to be made a butt of jokes for others humour is despicable.My condolences to this young nurses family.I'm sorry that this young woman felt to need to end her life over something so silly but I too believe that she had mental health issues.
What killed her? Maybe she got murderd.. If nothing bad happend no one would think it was a bad idea. These two people should not feel as bad as they do.
I know it would be too much to wish for, but, wouldn't it be great if the nurse was ok and she was pranking the DJs. Sad deal.
Meanwhile, how many people were killed by handguns today?
I'm with you on this Bonesph. So far the cause of death remains unknown - irresponsible reporting is leading people to believe it was suicide, and that it had anything to do with the phone call. Heck, I've talked to people over the phone who GUESS WHAT - died eventually! Doesn't mean the phone call had anything to do with it.
@ help is coming...I thought the same thing myself! That would teach them a lesson for sure.
When will the "press" leave the British Royal Family ALONE?.
I am just about fed-up with the presses 'royal mania', this is what happens as the result of another stupid
stunt !.
Was not Princess Diana enough, still you have not learnt.
A pissed of Brit, yea I am.
Colin J. O'Farrell
are you kidding? the only value to anyone that the royal family has is that of entertainment. of course the press is all over them -- as their very existece requires. i don't believe they should be hounded to the extent of that moron photographer who stalked a topless dutchess from miles away with his super lens. however, they are certainly fair game for both normal news coverage and this kind of nonsense. who could have forseen this suicide. c'mon people, get a grip.
When they stop making a public display of themselves.
Maybe when they stop issuing press releases when a member of the family has an upset stomach.
The purpose of the royals is to sit there, look pretty, bring in tourism money for the UK and collect their millions of pounds a year from tax payers based on their birth right. Maybe some media outlets are overzealous in their approach to get stories about the royals, but what exactly is the point of them if they aren't socialites on the society pages with radio DJ's talking about them? That's kinda the point of them, to be celebrities that are basically higher class than reality TV stars but people we are supposed to be just as interested in. In fact, the only real difference between the royals and reality TV stars is that the royal families 15 minutes of fame lasts for an entire lifetime. So anyways, if you put yourself out there as a national status symbol and profit off of this, you kinda become fodder for tabloids and media in general.
Most of the blame in the death of this nurse is in the cult like religion/mythology surrounding the Royal family of Britain. Katie and Wills are the mother Mary and Jesus Christ to quite a few Royal watchers and the nurse drank the kool-aide. The feeling she let down all of Britain, the Hospital and the Queen herself is being constantly generated by this culture. She couldn't put it in perspective and she's dead. Great Britain isn't putting it into perspective and is screaming the Aussie DJ's have insulted their sovereign RH's and have committed an act of violence against the British Government. At the heart of this is mess is two vulgar high school senior minded people who were paid generously to entertain Aussies at the expense of others. They have enough listeners to generate enough income to justify their continuing to do the show even after other questionable pranks.
After a certain amount of time the tide of popular opinion will turn - against the powers that be that demand justice from the Australian government to try the two DJ's for a manslaughter charge and put them in jail. The rest of the world will identify with the two DJ's and a whole lot less with the baby drama of Katie and Wills.
Around the world we have been subjected to the continual drivel and drama about how Prince Harry (Hairy) was violeted in Vegas - during shots and strip poker.
People just don't relate to sunbathing buck naked in the French Riveriera on a private estate -
People might sympathize with being preggers and throwing up all the time. But they just don't relate to all the other drama that surrounds these people.
But the drama is created by our insatiable need to know if one of them has the runs. We read every quip published. If someone publishes a quip that causes another to take cyanide - then we self righteously pursue the pranksters.
If people don't back off the DJ's - in a couple of weeks - all the same papers, twitter boards and facebook pages will call on support for them - millions will be raised for their defense attorneys - ultimately they will do a talk show circuit and earn more millions and then ultimately they will publish a tell-all book and be so rich they don't know what to do -
Then the irony will be that we can't really relate to these DJ's either.
But we have created the situation.
Apology accepted.
But now you need to be made an example of. You can't just say "I'm sorry" and get out of an Involuntary Manslaughter wrap. I recommend 1-3 years, one million pounds in retribution to the family of the nurse, probation, loss of DJ license (if they have such a thing in Australia), 1,000 hours community service, and counseling for bullying.
True, but you also can't obtain a conviction on an Involuntary Manslaughter charge unless you can prove that "Tell Kate her mother-in-law is on the phone" constitutes criminal negligence.
You don't need that for a conviction, denver bill 2.
You've got a dead woman who was the victim of bullying by known individuals; that's all you need.
Look at that kid at Rutgers who killed himself after his roommate set up a spy cam on him and broadcast him across the campus last year.
Look at that girl was was duped on Facebook and killed herself a few years back.
Remember you are the generation that calls everybody that doesn't agree with you bullies. Guess what so are you. Now you made all these anti-bullying laws lets see how you like falling afoul of them. What you thought you were perfect? Sorry Charlie you ain't.
captain jack your a dumb A$$, lets get some more facts before you mouth off.............
What you say is true, but your best example is my best evidence that, if there is a conviction, it won't be for manslaughter. Dharun Ravi was originally charged with 30 counts, along with his girlfriend. The girlfriend rolled on him and, with the help of her testimony, he was convicted of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation, whatever that is. He got a 30-day sentence. And this was for making and distributing a video of the victim. What do you think the penalty for a phone call will be?
Her death won't 'cast a pall' over the birth of a child...there had to be a lot more to the situation than just this one stressor in the nurses life...but it brings the problems of provocative shock radio into focus. This station, and now it's two morning apes, seem comfortable taking on common decency. If I lived in the area I'd be boycotting their sponsors. The entire situation makes me more fearful for Kate Middleton, given this is not an easy ride to begin with...if anything happened to her/baby then I'd expect major, major, backlash.
From all I've read and heard, the prank was approved at the station meeting. If all the station sponsors are smart, they will withdraw their business. It's called financial sanctions. On the issue of "obviously the nurse had mental issues"-- that is simply not necessarily true. She was probably so embarrassed at being duped that she couldn't face her co-workers or patients or family. It happens---without mental illness.
humiliation hurts! it's not cute and it's not funny! my next door neighbors lost their 18 year old son because he went to a party and found his girlfriend making out with another guy. she broke up with him on the spot. he left the party and drove into a tree. that girl is awful damn sorry- but sorry doesn't bring him back; and it doesn't bring this nurse back either.
and let's not forget the other victims here: william and kate, whose privacy was violated. william who lost his own mother to media hounds. imagine how he is feeling right now; 2 other children have lost their mother because of this.
Years ago, some classmates were throwing snowballs at cars and hit one. The driver was enraged and got out to chase the boys. One boy ran onto the icy street and was killed by an oncoming car.
That's the trouble with stupid pranks -- they spin out of control so fast, and the end result can be so terrible and so out of proportion to to the prank.
It boggles the mind that these idiots are adults. And worse, they are on the air, inspiring other idiots.
You people thinking the DJ's deserve punishment are idiots. The woman committed suicide, most likely because she knew what the "Royal" family would do when they found out she - that's right SHE - screwed up. SHE accepted the call without verifying who SHE was talking to. SHE most likely broke a protocol on how such calls were to be treated.
Should she have killed herself for it, though? Of course not. You want to blame someone for her death, try putting the blame where it belongs - on the "Royal" family and their, in my opinion, overinflated and undeserved "positions" of "nobility".
"Oh, no! I did something to embarrass the Queen! I'll be shamed and ridiculed!"
Baloney. The nurses are there TO PROVIDE PATIENT CARE, not to be the "Scientific Incoming Call Authentication Verification Service". That's what people like you just can't seem to grasp. Do you think every incoming call to every hospital should be automatically assumed to be a prank? Because that's where this is headed as long as morons like those two set out to humiliate and embarrass people who ARE JUST TRYING TO DO THEIR JOBS. You idiot.
Anthony Boone:
I have to agree with you on the odd reaction of killing yourself over a prank phone call. What would drive such an extreme response from a bit of buffoonery is really the issue that should be examined.
Blame the victim, eh illumination fascination?
Captain Jack Wigal:
Blame is something best left for God and little children to practice. I would rather look for answers as to why someone would commit suicide over such an event.
It doesn't seem like a rational response, but perhaps it's the psychological indoctrination within British society to regard the royal family as being something greater than oneself. Much the same as Emperor Hirohito in Japan, where his subjects never looked directly at him as he was thought of as being from a divine origin.
I got news for you, illumination fascination, there is no god! Individual human beings are responsible for justice, not some invisible, made-up god.
It is ironic that you would speak of "god", "rational responses", and "psychological indoctrination" in the same post. Perhaps you should apply the scientific method to your religion and see if it is still "rational."
Captain Jack Wigal:
My beliefs are founded on pragmatism.
You don't seem to comprehend that the act of committing suicide over any incident such as this is perhaps more representative of a either a flaw within the society of the person committing this act or the person themselves, I am just questioning which is the case.
Since the concept of the existence of God cannot be proved or disproved, I am by definition an Agnostic.
To attempt to disprove a negative is a flaw in logic.
Example: You can't disprove the tiny, purple unicorn that lives in my pocket, therefore it exists!
Wrong!
The burden of proof is on the individual making the assertion. If you can't prove your god exists, then it doesn't.
Agnosticism is the coward's position.
Anthony Boone my life is mine it is not yours to use for your entertainment without my permission. That is why pranks are wrong. That they do tend to spin out of control is too sadly true and often the person they are pulled on is the one hurt. Pranks are the humor of the immature. Please grow up.
You, Anthony Boone, are an idiot.
I'm pretty sure no one here is an expert psychiatrist with vast insight to possibly know the mental state or strain on this woman. She was in a position of great responsibility and was publicly humiliated. Was her reaction extreme - of course. Was it unprecedented? Hell no. People take their own lives every day after such treatment, whether it's at work, school, etc. Have you been following the backlash associated with bullying?
The blame lies with people who take no responsibility or consider the effects of their actions. The world is full of such people, right down to the moron texting while they drive. As a rational human, I haven't ever thought about "pranking" someone to such an extreme. It's called human decency.
I'll refer you back to Renee's post, #1.39. There were two nurses involved. We haven't heard of any reaction of the nurse who was actually pranked, the one who's conversation was taped. I imagine she's going through her own crisis-she was the one humiliated.
Ms Saldhana, who committed suicide, patched the call through, and evidently she's the one who did not verify the authenticity of the caller, and thus committed a breach of privacy. This is a big deal, no matter who's privacy is not being upheld. When it's the most famous patient in the world, it's a very big deal. Evidently, Ms Salhana was a very concientious person and/or the hospital came down on her like a ton of bricks for her to take it so very hard.
The station's management should be disciplined for encouraging the prank. There are a few institutions you don't "prank". Here's a rule of thumb-if the service is important enough that it's operational 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, don't screw with it. We have more important things to do than play with you.
BTW, does anyone else think that Mel truly looks contrite, while Michael looks defiant?
Wrongful death suit coming for the two clowns that came up with this "genius" idea.
A big waste of tax dollars as no one pulled the trigger physically to this nurse. You can's prove it,there's no evidence that suggests thats the real reason she committed suicide. She could have been depressed and naturally that wasn't brought up. I understand nurse's are under a lot of stress and overworked. I doubt a phone call would make someone do that.
Why would someone prank a hospital? People are in the hospital because they are ill and the staff of the hospital has enough just to do their jobs without some stupid DJs making the job more difficult! It would take a real idiot to think that this is "entertainment"! This nonsense of "reality" shows and laughing at the misfortune of others has to stop!
When I see the word prank I think of ,cruel , heartless, stupid ,and Ashton Kutchen.These two people look really, really Stupid , what happened to that cruel laughter we heard on the telephone.
Good! I am glad!! These two should not only be heartbroken but made to remember Always!! The object of their undertaking was only for their own fame and personal gain while they conveniently ignored that such thoughtless vulgar “pranks” at expense and defamation of others is nothing more than Heartless and very painful Bullying with a smile!
The radio station and both disc jockeys need to stop making all these pathetic excuses! (Such as: who could of known this would happen, they had protocols in place--What the hell does that mean anyway?!) Any intelligent human being is keenly aware of how stressful working in a hospital environment is. To even consider this type of prank is beyond humane and just plain thoughtless. Anyone involved in this prank should be fired and monetary restitution should be made to this nurse's family. These horrific pranks need to be stopped by all radio stations. People need to use their brains and realize you never know who the person is or what they are personally dealing with in their life that is on the receiving end of these types of phone calls. I hope all involved are haunted and punished for the rest of their lives for their absolute lack of common sense and compassion.
How is it that so many people suddenly know with complete certainty that phone pranks lead to disasters?
Where is the free will, and the choice of that poor nurse? Was she without free will suddenly, a leaf in the wind?
How could this have been foreseen?
MarkovC says, "Was she without free will suddenly, a leaf in the wind?"
Not free will, but without honor. She was suddenly without honor that these two DJs took from her and broadcast their crime throughout the world. She did what she thought was the right thing to do, as many people who suddenly lose their honor do.
If only Bush and Petraeus had followed the example of this noble woman.
You would have to have honor to understand.
I thought I was the last person on earth to understand this concept of loss of honour. Thank you Captain Jack
Agreed. I personally find prank phone calls and most DJs in general pretty obnoxious, but for everyone to jump up in arms and claim that they should have *known* that this was going to happen is silly. The article got it right "No one could have reasonably foreseen what has happened." That is the key right there - this suicide could not have been "reasonably" predicted.
The only person who is responsible for the nurse's death is the nurse herself. I'm sure that she was embarrassed, but in the end, she is the one who chose to take her own life. Most people in the same situation would not have chosen the same path.
You're right, SherryMarie.
But nevertheless, the nurse is dead and whether they foresaw it or not, these DJs are responsible. It is called involuntary manslaughter; you didn't mean for her to die, you didn't know she would kill herself, you didn't know she took her job so seriously, but she did die because of something you intitiated.
It's the same as screaming "FIRE!" in a crowded theater. You didn't know people would trample each other trying to get out, but they did and you're responsible.
Markov back to the fact that You do not have the right to use someone else without their permission for your entertainment. The DJ's have violated the rights of all involved for their personel use. Please grow up the culture you are inflicting on the rest of us is mean spirited and very depressing. Try something different be nice to the guy next to you because it makes for a happier culture that we all live in.
OMG I cannot believe anyone would blame the DJs for this woman's death. There are normal people that everyday make the headlines for something embarrassing and comedians make jokes about people all the time. A person kills themself that is on them and only them. This is more stupid than blaming Howard Stern for Dana Plato's suicide. If everyone did not treat the "Royal" family with kid gloves the entire time it would be realized that the joke was on them and not on the nurse. These DJs should not even have been taken off the air.
What is this world coming to? Oh, don't pull a prank on one of the royals. Is SNL next, when they do a spoof on the president or michelle? You're right this whole thing is stupid.
And I bet you were a bully on the playground and then said " I was just kidding". Too bad you and others cannot treat your fellow man with dignity and respect. Pranks are childish and often cruel. And people who pull pranks are bullies.
@ Jim
Nobody forces you to watch SNL, so if you kill yourself cause of something you saw there, that is your problem. And I don't remember SNL ever directly calling anyone they spoof.
These DJs made the call to this woman and this woman killed herself because of it. What don't you get?
spookyx Hospitals are very serious about patient privacy. They are not places to play pranks and that poor nurse could have been sued for that mistake. She could have lost her job for that mistake. Even cleaning ladies are covered by the patient privacy rules. Did it ever occur to you why you are first seeing the pictures of Zimmerman with the blood all over his face now? It is because the firemen/ ambulance attendants are covered by HIPPA rules and could not say anything. You spookyx need to grow up people were not put on this planet for YOUR amusement Jim it is not about THE ROYALS Don't pull your prank on me either it is not your right.
Prank calls happen ALL the time. Why are you people being so dumb? 'Oh the DJ's should be made an example of', 'Shame on the DJs' 'Why would someone prank a hospital' blah, blah, blah. If you want to blame ANYONE blame the receptionist who put the call through to the nurse to begin with!!! SHE is the one who should have known better!! Blame a death on two dummies in a different country that just wanted to laugh while being hung up on, give me a break. I'm surprised they didn't have the placed locked down while the princess was there. Are you telling me Jay-Z and Beyonce can pay for better security than the all mighty royal family?? Totally lack of communication and security on both the hospital and royal family's part.
With that being said, who knows what really happened!!! Maybe the nurse was killed! NEVER believe everything you read.
It is sad that now everyone has to live with this heartbreak.
Excuse me did you not read the article. The nurse was subbing for the receptionist and she put thru the call. Read the article.
Amanda: Maybe we just can't help ourselves. Thanks for gracing us with the ultimate perspective.
I find it interesting and sad that the news media doesn't seem to think that their constant rehashing of the prank call ad nauseum -over every every station may have been what pushed that nurse to suicide !! Yes- those DJ's were in the wrong; but imagine how hard it was for that poor nurse to have her humiliation broadcast over & over again. All for a news story .
These 2 make me want to puke
their just 2 idiots to late
they can always be Lifeguards on the Great Barrier Reef
I think radio is over for them
Every radio station does pranks on the radio to be funny,and most of these pranks are just stupid,and their audiences like them. People know they're pranks. How do you not know this?
This is common on USA radio all across the country,so what. If you actually believe that this matters so much,then you should have your head examined. Why would a hospital hire someone mentally unbalanced or ill to help patients? No one wants to say it,but the nurse appears to be a foreigner and doesn't get the joke,but to kill yourself over that seems really stretching this.
No one wants to say it,but the nurse appears to be a foreigner and doesn't get the joke
That's been in the back of my mind as well, but since it was based only on Saldanha's appearance and her name I was kind of reluctant to say anything. Was she English-born? Even if she was, what were her other cultural reference points? Her background and personal value system might have something to do with her extreme reaction (as most see it) to the manufactured stupidity and subsequent worldwide humiliation to which she was subjected.
This is common on USA radio all across the country,so what. If you actually believe that this matters so much,then you should have your head examined.
You, like the DJs themselves and much of the public, make the (time-honored and completely incorrect) assumption that everybody's like you and anyone who's NOT like you is sick and misbegotten.
This is what happens when news is turned into entertainment. Sensationalism, horseplay, ... sacrificing journalism inh favor of "entertainment". The news media are controlled by business, and business is about making money, not about dissdeminating information. There is a lack of responsibility for the sake of earnings. Gotta keep the hoi poloi interested, so let's give 'em bread and circuses.
And today's societal demands for 24/7 instantaneous "news" through the electronic access just amplifies that sensationalism. This is a very good example of that amplification...the notation in the story about the prank going internationally viral in a matter of hours, if not minutes of the call. Every person connected to this 24/7 information pipeline needs to sit back and consider how THEY are also part of the problem. If we weren't so insistent on this kind of "news/entertainment", there would be neither the demand for it nor the monetary benefits for those who produce it. I for one do not pay any attention to any of the ads/promos on any of the websites. I don't even read the local newspapers (don't want to waste my money on the garbage they print, or add to the landfill problem disposing of those very papers) or listen to the local radio stations. I do not have a TV anymore either. There is just garbage in that media. As a business manager, I do my promotions one-on-one and through email blasts to those customers who have signed up for our services.
The joke is on them--not so funny eh.
Our fondest wish for these 2 idiots is that everytime they look in the mirror,they are reminded of their stupidity in thinking that this prank (or any phone call prank) is in the least bit funny.No sympathy for either one of these fools.
Every bad thing that comes their way,because of what they've done....they deserve.
I suspect the only thing they're sorry about...is that the joke backfired and they are now 2 of the most hated people in Australia and around the world.
What these two former radio clowns can do, is to quietly fade into the sunset,never to be heard from again.Wonder how they'll live with themselves, knowing that in all probability if not for their actions,this nurse would still be alive today.They've helped to make 2 children motherless,a husband left to raise 2 children on his own. I would ask the former radio clowns one question--- Proud of yourselves?
Radio spokespeople, being the on-air employees and mgmt, have always let possible ratings influence the actions they take over the airwaves. They should be held to a high standard of responsibility for the pranks and humiliation they pull off towards the ratings goal. In this case, manslaughter charges should be brought against the ones who concieved and carried out this prank. Fines levied should bring the station to it's knees and you won't see this type of "anything goes for ratings" attitude continue on any station.
RATINGS are the problem always with all media. If we the "responders" who get the calls for the media ratings would just hang up on the "research" teams that create those "ratings", then they wouldn't be able to do that popularity contest, would they? Think about that the next time you get one of those calls. Hurt the media where you can do the most good. Boycott them and their sponsors. Hurt their pocketbooks the only way you can. FIXNEWS is a good place for everyone to start with that.
This was a prank and intended to be funny for the listening audience (I personally don't find stuff like this funny, but some do). But how many of us have pranked someone? Probably all of us. Its not bullying. It was a joke, The DJs don't deserve eternal damnation and sacrifice and have to pay retribution. For someone to commit suicide for this, while tragic, is not an appropriate reaction to this event. If it happened to me, I wouldn't kill myself for it. I'm actually kind of surprised she didn't realize it was prank based on the things the DJs were saying on the phone. It was silly and lighthearted and absurd. Maybe she was so humiliated, she couldn't get passed it, but people shouldn't be that sensitive to life that we destroy ourselves over it.
How is calling a hospital where people are ill or dying considered light-hearted? Hospital staff are trying to help people who are ill, not provide "light-hearted entertainment" for you! Grow up!
No, CrashD, "All of us" have NOT done this. This is not at all like playing a practical joke on a friend. If you know the person you presumable know how they will react and you know what lines not to cross. (If you don't, then you're not much of a friend.) The aftermath is also kept within a circle of acquaintances. In the case here, they picked on a total stranger about whom they knew and cared nothing, and held her up to literally world wide ridicule. If you can't see the difference, then you are just as pathetically immature as the two DJs.
Ken, I disagree. About 20 years ago a friend committed suicide after his fiancee broke up with him. She didn't know who he was going to react in such an extreme way. She was certainly well within the circle of acquaintences. My point is, there is no way to know how any event will cause someone to commit suicide. Is an employer at fault if someone they lay off commits suicide? Is the fiancee at fault for breaking off a relationship?
Maybe we need to do is ban all practical jokes and prosecute people for pulling them, including going after kids who prank call people (which I did when I was kid), because we don't want people to kill themselves.
Had the nurse laughed off the incident, would it have been okay?
@ Alice, they weren't calling a hospital to talk to a family of someone who was dying, they were trying to call Kate Middleton and admitted they were surprised as far as they got.
Crash - Doesn't matter. They had no legitimate reason to call the hospital in the first place.
Gotta agree with CrashD. I'd be embarrassed if it happened to me but no way I would end my life over it. Hate to be harsh but what kind of mom intentionally leaves two children behind because she is embarrassed?
well said crash
CrashD -- you didn't read one single word of my comment, did you? Or is your reading comprehension really that limited? I drew a very clear distinction between something that happens between friends versus targeting a total stranger. The point is that when you pull a "prank" on a total stranger, you have no way of knowing how they will react. You know nothing of their life, what problems or stresses they may be facing, what past trauma you may be triggering a reaction to, or anything else. You ask, would it have been OK if she laughed it off? The answer is NO, it is never OK to be intentionally cruel to another person. What matters is your action, not the other person's reaction.
My guess is that the nurse got flak at work. I doubt very seriously she would have committed suicide unless there was something that happened AFTER the call. To say the DJs are to blame is probably not the entire story.