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Original poster

If I prank call the Australian Radio Station.....

117 replies

Goldmandra · 07/12/2012 20:11

....and tell them they're on a charge of corporate manslaughter?

I wonder how funny they would find that Angry

OP posts:
Doinmummy · 07/12/2012 23:32

I agree Mrsbw

It's just not funny to use an unwell pregnant woman as the butt of a joke.

I wonder if the fact that the poor nurse was from a different culture and just didn't 'get' the humour ,made her unable to see that she was absolutely not to blame.

Doinmummy · 07/12/2012 23:34

I use the term ' humour' very loosely

LadyBeagleBaublesandBells · 07/12/2012 23:47

The name of the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, may be a clue to her putting the call through, as English may not have been her first language.
I may be totally wrong here, and apologise if I am, but it was one of the thoughts that occurred to me when I heard the news.

Doinmummy · 07/12/2012 23:51

Yes she may not have been able to distinguish the dodgy English accents and so was mortified that she'd been conned.

Morloth · 08/12/2012 00:01

That poor woman.

So sad, she did nothing to deserve any of this, she was going about her job on the other side of the world and some complete bastards thought it would be funny to hassle her.

God, so sad - imagine how she must have felt to think this was the best option? Just imagine for a moment.

This makes me so angry.

2Day FM needs to take some responsibility for this, they really do, between this and fucking Sandilands and all the rest of the puerile vomit they spew, something needs to be done about it.

I think if I was part of the palace machine I would be suggesting that they step in here and try to assist this woman's family as kindly as possible. Not their fault, but given the power and wealth they possess there must be something they could do to help them out. I would.

OnwardBound · 08/12/2012 00:09

Oh really enough now.

I think everyone is agreed that this is a terrible tragedy.

But this mass hysteria and competitive grieving is not helping anyone.

Nor is baying for the blood of two young and foolish DJs.

Morloth · 08/12/2012 00:13

I don't know about blood but 2Day FM have form for this.

I want whoever came up with this idea, whoever OKd it and whoever carried it out either fired or at the very least disciplined. Actions have consequences.

Prank calls suck, this is a high profile one, but I have heard others before that when it is quite clear the person on the phone is getting distressed and they just don't care.

2Day FM used to be a lot of fun, now it has just gotten mean.

Sandilands asked a 14 year old girl if being raped was her only sexual experience and you know what happened to him and his vapid co-host? Nothing absolutely nothing. Enough is enough.

LadyBeagleBaublesandBells · 08/12/2012 00:20

Are you Australian, Morloth?
Because it's interesting to hear your point of view.
For me, it's just nasty invasive journalism and it would be wrong whoever it was directed at, royal or not.

OnwardBound · 08/12/2012 00:31

Okay, I agree that this 2Day FM sounds dire and their style of shock jocking [or plain old stupidity] needs to be called into account.

But in my humble opinion this prank call where two DJs pretend to be the Queen and Prince Charles [with shocking attempt at English accents] was puerile, childish and mischievious NOT malicious or calculated to cause great distress.

It was ill advised, particularly in the context of this tragedy.

But calling them complete bastards or worse is more than a bit OTT.

Someone further up thread said something about it being a pity that they were not strung up.

Now I know that this was not the intent of the poster but really how would they feel if one of the DJs did actually hang themselves over this, or was strung up by a vigilante.

So really, I think we should all just get a grip and stop the frothing.

Otherwise this just becomes trial by social media and haven't we all had enough of this by now?

Morloth · 08/12/2012 00:36

Yes Lady I am Australian and in Sydney.

No, I think I will stick with complete bastards thank you OnwardBound, they didn't need to do this. They thought it would be funny, it wasn't and it has had a huge flow on result.

They didn't need to do this, at the very least they knew they were wasting someone's time by calling up and asking about a sick woman. There was no need for any of this to have ever happened.

Young DJs my arse, they know who they work for.

vivizone · 08/12/2012 00:39

This has really affected me. I don't know why I feel so sorrowful. I cry thinking about the pain and fear she must have been feeling. I just feel so bad for her and her children.

I keep thinking about her. It's most odd as I haven't even really followed the prank story. I just know that 2 children are today motherless because their mother was scared/alone/ in total torment. I find that hard to live with.

McChristmasPants2012 · 08/12/2012 01:12

It is down to the nurse, I am sorry that she felt she has to take her own life over this, but never should she have given sensitive information.

Whistlingwaves · 08/12/2012 01:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PerryCombover · 08/12/2012 01:52

This is nonsense. This lady must have had many issues that culminated in her suicide. It was no ones fault.

LDNmummy · 08/12/2012 02:09

Did anyone else read about the 14 year old girl who was raped who was unceremoniously outed about it live on air by the same radio station?

I heard the recording and almost burst into tears.

I am not a fan of the royals in any way but I feel bad for Kate. Her first pregnancy will always have this stigma attached to it. It seems she is getting her first taste of the downsides of being a royal.

saffronwblue · 08/12/2012 02:11

I just sent an email of compaint to the parent company of the radio station. austereo. Said I would make a point of avoiding the products of their advertisers in future.

differentnameforthis · 08/12/2012 04:15

nancy75 I am well aware they don't media coverage here, and that is mostly due to, like you say, the Australians not caring about them. But at the same time, a lot of Australians want out from the under the Monarchy, so hold them somewhat in contempt. So they would have loved this & it would have spread like wildfire.

Add to that, why do this to the most well known family in the world and not expect it to leave Australia. You would have to be naive to believe they never intended it to leave our shores.

differentnameforthis · 08/12/2012 04:23

www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/coles-pulls-ads-from-2dayfm-after-nurse-subjected-to-prank-royal-call-found-dead-in-london/story-e6frf96f-1226532724014

I should think so too. For those who don't know, comparisons of the company's who have pulled advertising

Coles - Tesco
Telstra - BT
Optus - any major mobile carrier

HouseOfTinsel · 08/12/2012 07:29

It does seem unprofessional of the hospital to expect their nurses to act as switchboard operators, especially when they presumably have a lot of high profile patients and media enquiries coming through. Even during the night, you would have thought that they could have employed someone specially to deal with it. Very unfair to ask the nurses to add to their duties by dealing with outside calls from the general public.

cuillereasoupe · 08/12/2012 08:29

I wonder whether the poor nurse was doorstepped by the likes of the DM.

newpencilcase · 08/12/2012 08:35

I'm not condoning the prank call at all.

However I think the hysteria surrounding the reporting of it has been far more damaging and probably much more of a contributory factor.

A prank call is a bit embarrassing but being the top headline in every bulletin and on every front page, with papers calling it a matter of grave national security is utterly humiliating.

And yet the papers are STILL splashing it all over the front pages and whipping it up into a media story. They have absolutely no sense of irony or self-awareness whatsoever. Confused

I actually think there should be a ban on reporting DoC's pregnancy, and she should be allowed to continue privately and stress free. Very much like Prince William at university.

For my sake as much as hers Wink

Morloth · 08/12/2012 08:40

I want out from under the Monarchy.

I don't find it funny for ridiculous calls to be made to hospitals in the middle of the night asking for details of a sick woman.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

differentnameforthis · 08/12/2012 12:13

Morloth I didn't mean all Australians thought it was funny. I think I said most, perhaps that was wrong. I am aware that not all would find this funny.

Didn't want to offend anyone.

Viviennemary · 08/12/2012 12:56

It was a prank phone call. Jeremy Beadle had a show for years along similar lines. The fact that this nurse has died is extremely tragic. But all this corporate manslaughter, blood on their hands is just totally out of order and ridiculous. The media in this country milked it day after day after day. Playing the recording printing the conversation and I wouldn't be in the least surprised if the nurse herself was hassled by media.

VicarInaTutuDrankSantasSherry · 08/12/2012 13:00

there is an art to prank calling, and a very fine line between a funny prank call and a tasteless, twattish prank call.

this was the latter.