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AIBU?

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Original poster

To feel sorry for the Australian DJs?

921 replies

andapartridgeinaRowantree · 08/12/2012 00:38

Obviously more sorry for the nurse's family. I wonder how long she was having suicidal thoughts for? I can't think this could have been the only cause,

But these pranks have been going on for such a long time and those DJs could not have predicted such a result and are going to have to live with it for the rest of their lives.

It's such a tragedy and I feel very sad for all concerned.

OP posts:
seeker · 08/12/2012 00:41

I agree. But I suspect others might not agree.

NannyEggn0gg · 08/12/2012 00:44

Nope. I know this was an extreme consequence and probably the tipping point rather than the cause (pure speculation). but I hate practical jokes. If this tragedy hadn't happened the victim would still have suffered humiliation. They aren't funny and always cause upset.
So I don't feel sorry for them at all.

AgentZigzag · 08/12/2012 00:44

I agree too.

Not that it takes anything away from the sympathy I feel for the family of the woman who died, but although they were being cunts (which I read on another MN thread about it and thought just about summed them up) there's no way they set out to cause such pain and suffering to either of the women, or their families.

They're going to have to live with what they've done (like a lot of other people) and it's a terrible sentence to wake up to in the morning.

WorraLorraTurkey · 08/12/2012 00:45

I totally agree

It was a stupid prank but no-one could have predicted that outcome.

Obviously first and foremost I feel for the nurse and her family but I also feel for the DJ's and for Kate herself who will no doubt feel in part to 'blame' even though that's a ridiculous thought.

MsNobodyAgain · 08/12/2012 00:45

YABU

She may have not had any suicidal thoughts until she was held up to public ridicule.

They should be ashamed. I hope they never have a good nights sleep again.

AgentZigzag · 08/12/2012 00:48

Some of it was down to these particular circumstances, but some of it is pretty poignant given the Levinson Enquiry.

Who the fuck do these people (in the media) think they fucking are??

WorraLorraTurkey · 08/12/2012 00:48

I can't see putting the prankers through on a switchboard as something to kill yourself over if you've had no previous suicidal thoughts to be honest.

If anyone was held up to public ridicule it was the nurse who gave out the information.

Obviously no-one should be speculating at this stage, but no way in my mind would something like that make a normally stable person end their life.

CoolaYuleA · 08/12/2012 00:49

I'm struggling with this one. Not because the prank had such horrific consequences, of course they couldn't have predicted that.

I'm struggling because they thought it was ok to use a pregnant woman's (doesn't matter who really) illness and admittance to hospital for a prank in the first place. When you take it down to the very basic level they called a HOSPITAL to make fun at the expense of someone who was ill.

Regardless of what happened after, as tragic as it is, for me using sick people for fun is just distasteful and inappropriate.

So no, I don't feel sorry for them. Even if this hadn't happened pranking hospitals at the expense of sick people is just wrong and they shouldn't have done it. Prank people if you like - but don't exploit people in a vulnerable state, such as illness, to do it.

MrsChristmasBungle · 08/12/2012 00:51

TBH I do feel slightly sorry for the DJ's. They did the stupid prank but the lawyer/station managers heard it all, discussed it and then agreed it should be aired. They should have known, at the very least, that the nurses involved would be humiliated and/or disciplined.

They didn;t have to air the tapes. I think the DJ's are getting all of the blame and vitirol when really the powers that be at their station are the ones in control.

CoolaYuleA · 08/12/2012 00:53

I do feel sorry for Kate and William though - even without what has happened a prank relating to their pregnancy is unfair and would have marred it a little. Now they will always remember that this happened during what should be a happy time for them.

All because some asshats thought it would be "funny".

Morloth · 08/12/2012 00:54

Most of my anger is directed towards 2Day FM itself, but no, I do believe they bear some personal responsibility here.

They work for this company, the picked up the phone and they enjoyed the laughs from all the fallout.

If I do something awful at my bosses' direction it is her fault and it is also mine. They were not in any danger if they refused to do this stunt. We do not have a policy of being shot for disobeying our bosses here in Oz.

They did it, they enjoyed the laughs and now they can suffer the consequences.

AgentZigzag · 08/12/2012 00:57

Do you think they could have reasonably predicted the consequences though Morloth?

Whistlingwaves · 08/12/2012 00:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MsNobodyAgain · 08/12/2012 01:01

She will have been ridiculed because she put the call through in the first place instead of questioning it.

She was a woman put in the media spotlight. Who expects that?

It's wrong.

I don't buy into this 'well, she must have had ishoos anyway' thing, and it being the straw that broke the camels back. She was national news. It was played over and over again. She was humiliated.

Get yourself taunted all over the world and see how you feel.

MrsChristmasBungle · 08/12/2012 01:02

I do agree the DJ's appeared to court the attention they got over this. Twitter messages about how they went 'global' etc. Through their twitter messages, it appeared they enjoyed the attention.

All concerned in this prank must have known there would be consequences, not these specific terrible consequences but consequences all the same, most likely for the poor person that believed their prank and talked to them.

No-one knows what drove this lady to this but it seems clear to me that this situation greatly contributed to her decision.

Morloth · 08/12/2012 01:03

Do I think they would have known she would die? No.

But it doesn't take a huge leap to understand that they might be costing someone their job and hurting someone quite badly.

Actions have consequences, they didn't think before they acted. A moment's thought by a reasonably responsible adult would have resulted in this not happening.

There was no reason for a call to be made from a radio station to a hospital pretending to be a concerned relative of a sick person for laughs, there was just no good reason for that to happen, not at all.

Whistlingwaves · 08/12/2012 01:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WorraLorraTurkey · 08/12/2012 01:07

Come on of course she must have had issues the poor woman.

Again, none of us know at this stage but to kill yourself 2 days after putting a call through to a switch board and finding out you've been the butt of a public joke?

SchnappsDamnYou · 08/12/2012 01:07

No, I do not feel sorry for them.
At the very least they must have known that the nurses they called could be sacked, reprimanded and humiliated at best, and they were calling a hospital to make fun of a sick person and share personal private details for a laugh and fame.

They could not have predicted a death but they should and could easily have predicted that people would be hurt, embarrassed and ashamed and humiliated.
They deserve to feel utterly dreadful and they should feel burning shame and remorse.

Morloth · 08/12/2012 01:09

She is still dead Worra, even if this was just 'the straw', there didn't need to be a straw did there?

What possible justification could there be for that call to have been made at all?

MsNobodyAgain · 08/12/2012 01:10

Bollocks Worra

Utter bollocks

AgentZigzag · 08/12/2012 01:10

I agree they could have reasonably predicted they'd cause shit for the people involved Morloth.

But being directly involved in someone's death (and I agree with 'No-one knows what drove this lady to this but it seems clear to me that this situation greatly contributed to her decision.') is one of the biggest things that can happen to a person.

They're going to reflect on this with regret until the day they die themselves.

They're total wankers in thinking this was any kind of entertainment, but I can't help but feel for them without losing any of the horror at the nurses death (if it was by her own hand because of this).

And do the listeners who indulge them in this kind of entertainment, have to shoulder some of the responsibility too?

Why did they think their listeners would think it was a right old laugh? Because their listeners would think it acceptable?

ravenAK · 08/12/2012 01:12

Very limited sympathy.

I'm sure they'll feel absolutely awful about it & didn't foresee etc etc.

But the intended consequence of their actions was inevitably going to humiliate staff, put them at risk of disciplinary procedures...& in order to obtain confidential medical information about an ill woman in early pregnancy.

Cuntish thing to do in the first place.

HoldMeCloserTonyDanza · 08/12/2012 01:14

Being publicly and internationally humiliated is a pretty big fucking straw.

And they deliberately set out to make her the object of derision.

I hate shite like this. It's horrible and I hope they feel terrible and I hope that this kind of "humour" becomes socially unacceptable.

WorraLorraTurkey · 08/12/2012 01:14

She is still dead Worra, even if this was just 'the straw', there didn't need to be a straw did there?

Of course there didn't need to be a straw.

But equally the DJ's could never have known that their stupid, childish prank would lead to the person who took the call, killing themself.

No-one in the world would ever prank anyone if they ever thought that would happen.