To feel sorry for the Australian DJs?

[andapartridgeinaRowantree]

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.

Would these DJs be expressing sorrow if Jacintha Saldhana had lost her job instead of committing suicide, or would they still be gloating on Facebook/Twitter about their global conquest?

This was a bullying, nasty piece of broadcasting, released without the consent of those involved and without any thought for the consequences that might fall on them.

From all the reports that have come out about the nurse, it seems she was a modest, conscientious and caring individual - the exact opposite, in fact, of the brash 'shock jocks' and the corporates who run these kind of radio shows.

I heard a report on the radio this morning saying that Jacintha Saldhana had been hoping to open a nursing home in her home town, Mangalore. Not sure if this is accurate but, if it is, perhaps the Australian media corporation that allowed this to be broadcast could atone for their appalling decision by donating money for this home to be built in her memory.

I agree that the DJs are being hung out to dry by the station management, and that's not fair. After all, they didn't do this in a vacuum, with everyone else around acting with utmost moral probity etc.

Enough already.

This thread is really awful. I think it should be pulled now.

Obviously because my son committed suicide this is very poignant to me and it's hard to be objective.

But since the news broke about the nurse I have asked myself would I still feel the way I do. Obviously I don't 100% know this answer but I'm as positive as I can be that my stance would be the same.

I don't wish them dead. Of course I don't. But the whole lot of them should be made to pay in some way for this.

Because somebody lost their life, two children lost their mother, a family lost the woman they love.

It can't be brushed under the carpet.

verlaine:
'You see, you are speculating there. You don't know how the hospital management have behaved. It's quite possible that the managment behaved in supportive way and did take it on themselves to improved training etc.'

Yes, I agree that it is speculation as I wasn't party to any conversations within that specific hospital but it is speculation based on my knowledge of how these hospital managers (and people in power in general) usually behave. I have worked in hospitals for years, have a husband who works in hospitals and various close friends and colleagues and based on my experience, it is v likely that they were less than supportive of the staff involved.

Do you not think they are paying Everlong? They must be devastated over the unintended outcome of their 'prank'. Baying for more blood is not going to help Jacintha's family.

I dont feel sorry for the presenters at all!

I feel for the nursers family. But not the presenters.

They decided to play devils advocate with somebodys job, somebodys life to entertain themselves and their listeners, and were gloating and boasting, all to raise their profiles.

Well, their profiles are pretty high now, and they are infamous to the world.
If you play a stupid prank on somebody, it is only fair that you suffer the consequences. I bet they would not really have cared if she "only" lost her job and ability to provide for her kids.

I think the Radio station should donate a substantial amount of money to the nurses family. Not as "compensation" but because it would be a nice thing to do.

Do I think they're paying? I'm not sure. I think the tears and proclamation of sorrow is what is expected of them. But more for themselves and the shit they find themselves in. Regret for how this has unfolded. But too late now.

They didn't play devil's advocate with someone's life. I really don't understand what that comment means.

And you have no way of knowing that they wouldnt have cared if the nurse lost her ability to provide for her kids. That is a rather unfair assumption to make.

Would we be having the same conversation about 'baying for blood', if the radio station did something that had the potential to harm members of the public psychically?

There is a massive difference between baying for blood and wanting someone to be held properly responsible for their actions.

If someone kills whilst driving without due care and attention, then how they feel about it is taken into consideration when passing sentence not before. They still have to stand trial first though no matter what their intent or how if affects them emotionally.

You seem to be assuming a lot Everlong. I understand that you're coming from a difficult place, but it is harsh to publish on a forum that the djs are only crying for themselves. They're human and I would imagine they must be sick to their stomachs and in a cloud of absolute shock and horror over how things transpired.

I hate a lot of these prank programmes anyway and turn them off.
I don't wish the DJs any harm but I don't feel sorry for them at all. I am sure they didn't intend the nurse to kill herself but they must have known that she would suffer consequences from the prank.

The more likely result of their prank would have been that the nurse lost her job, especially if a formal complaint had been made by the Royal Family. If she had lost her job in those circumstances, it would have been difficult for her to find another. So, if the DJs lose their jobs and find it hard to get another one I really don't feel anything but poetic justice. Hoisted on their own petard.

Redtoothbrush, of course they should be held responsible and should have been all along, even before this tragedy. But that doesn't mean that people can't feel sympathy for the terrible situation they have found themselves in and take that into account when discussing whether they have paid the price for their stupid deed.

' harsh to publish on a public forum that the dj's are only crying for themselves ' not as harsh as pranking the hospital and publicly airing that conversation

Is it possible to point me to the posts where people are baying for the blood of the DJs and / or others at the radio station?

"Would these DJs be expressing sorrow if Jacintha Saldhana had lost her job instead of committing suicide, or would they still be gloating on Facebook/Twitter about their global conquest?" No, and to be frank, neither would the majority of the people on this thread. There were plenty of calls for the nurse who gave out the private info to be sacked/disciplined on threads here on mn, with people expressing the fact that they would be outraged if a hospitall gave out personal information about them to their granny-in-law.

To be fair, the only thing that Jacintha Saldhana was "guilty" of was being a bit gullible in believing the queen was on the phone and putting the call through. But she didn't divulge any personal information about KM, and being a bit gullible should hardly have been perceived as a disciplinary offense - it was just a mistake, as opposed to the other nurse who actually gave out information to a non family member which protocols should have dictated should never have happened.

So if the other nurse had lost her job that wouldn't necessarily have been unjustified and plenty of people would have agreed with that, probably some of the same people who are now calling for the heads of these DJ's.

"So,in a scenario where Jacintha's children ever happened upon this thread, it would be ok for them to read that their mother wasn't giving them any thought when she killed herself, but it's not ok for them to read Ever's comment that in her opinion the poster who said that is a 'disgrace'. [QUOTE]

But you could say that about the DJs as well. A lot of people are rightly commenting on the fact that public calls for Jacintha to be sacked etc could have driven a vulnerable person over the edge.
But people are also making very harsh comments about the DJs, with no thought for the consequences of this 'angry mob' attack and how it could affect two people who behaved like idiots but did not set out to cause anyone's death. "

janeatthebarre
I have no clue why you chose to quote my post here. . What could I say "about the DJ's as well"? They're not here making vile comments about suicide. I haven't made any harsh comments about the DJ's. The deletions that I was referring to weren't about the DJ's either.

I don't think it was bullying (and I really dislike how the word is bandied about whenever someone faces negative publicity/criticism, but that's a whole other topic altogether). Bullying implies a sustained campaign against a target. This was a prank call - a stupid, ridiculous, needless prank call at that - but it was not meant in a malicious way.

Radio stations make these kinds of calls every single day - a Real Radio/Clyde 1 DJ in Glasgow even releases CDs of the prank calls he makes. The DJ's did not go out with the intention of driving someone to suicide, they genuinely believed that as their accents and request were so ridiculous, they'd be hung up on and the joke would be on them. Yes, in hindsight when the call was put through to the ward they should have hung up, but how were they to know what would happen?

In my opinion, the call should NEVER have been broadcast - that decision lay with the senior producers and station managers. I feel as though the DJs, as the "face" of the prank, are being made scapegoats for the whole thing. They were stupid to do it, but the decision to broadcast was not theirs alone. I also think the media have a lot of questions to answer in terms of their coverage of the prank call (lots of "DIMWIT STAFF LEAK INFO ABOUT PRINCESS KATE"-style headlines) in the time between the call being broadcast and Jacintha being found. I hope the other nurse (the one who spoke longer and gave out the information on Kate's health) is being properly supported and not facing needless pressure from the hospital or the media.

' harsh to publish on a public forum that the dj's are only crying for themselves ' not as harsh as pranking the hospital and publicly airing that conversation

No Everlong but it's still harsh. Two wrongs and all that....

Ah well Jeanette I'm sure if you put yourself in my shoes, for let's say 30 seconds you will empathise with why I feel the way I do.

Fiercepanda, there is an irony in you posting about a DJ who sells CDs of his pranks, who was also sacked after carrying out a prank himself. Robin Galloway and his producer were sacked when they thought it would be funny for the producer to strip naked and run past Ed Milliband at a public event, not long after he became Labour Leader. Milliband and his people tried to speak up for them, but the radio station decided they went too far, and still sacked them.

I feel sympathy for the DJs. Not a huge amount granted, but I do feel some. There was no way they could have seen this coming.

Sorry but I agree with the dictionary definition of a bully as someone who habitually picks on someone weaker than them, it doesn't have to be habitually the same person, they could be bullying several people and an individual is only once the victim. I know such a person, that person has systematically bullied around 10 members of staff, I've been the victim only once.

Sometimes I feel sorry for people 'caught out' in a foolish minute of madness - so a snap decision to do or say something backfiring. I just don't feel that in this case but the flat is beyond the two presenters (who will shoulder most of the blame anyway). In the print media, the buck stops with the relevant editor.

But a prank like this must have been in the culture of the radio station and it wasn't just person who came up with the idea and ran with it. I find it hard to believe that there wasn't one person at the production meeting who said 'hang on there, someone could get the sack over this' or 'isn't a prank played on a hospital a bit stupid?' and maybe suggesting doing a 'spoof' interview with someone else playing the part of Bertie Wooster styled Prince William.

And another thing... Hasn't there been cases of suicide/murder on the back of US reality shows/games/youTube clips how's where people have been 'humiliated' in public?