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.

[misterwife]

I think the key to what TonyDanza is saying is 'in the age of the internet'. In the past you could manage being publicly humiliated or pranked as messages didn't spread as quickly as they do now, and you could get around it by keeping a very low profile. But with social media, one foot wrong and you may as well not leave the house, or turn your computer on ever again. The internet will always have an easily accessible record of how much of a chump you were.

[Brycie]

Yes waste of time. Pity five year olds working down mines in Colombia or Indian dalits who pick up human shit with their fingers for a living. REally you are wasting your emotional energy on this. They'll be fine. They won't starve or die young. They'll be just fine.

[NotTodayThankYou]

No sympathy whatsever. I despise this moronic type of 'humour' that involves causing distress/trouble for other people in the name of a 'laugh'.

Those who are saying that they couldn't have predicted the suicide are just justifying this type of 'humour'.

Whilst they couldn't have predicted the suicide, if they have half a braincell between the lot of them, it would have been perfectly clear that their prank would be likely to cause distress and possibly trouble for people working at the hospital and potentially the Duchess too.

When you are involved in broadcasting you have a responsibility for the content of what you broadcast and towards your audience. They have failed miserably in their responsibilities and are unfit for their jobs.

[NotTodayThankYou]

I meant that those who are saying that they feel sorry for the djs because they couldn't have predicted the suicide are jusifying this type of 'humour'.

I really need to go to bed....

[richardsimmonstanktop]

Brycie - that's really compassionate. Just because there are people worse off is no consolation to these children who have lost their mother. Not sure I follow your logic there.

I echo everything Whistlingwaves said upthread.

I don't blame the DJs for this nurse's death but as others have said, it doesn't take a huge leap of logic to understand that a prank like this could result in someone losing their job and public ridicule and derision.

I just feel so sad for this woman, she must've felt so desperate.

[AgentZigzag]

I've never justified this kind of 'entertainment' NotToday.

But I can feel sorry for them at the same time as loathing what they did.

And I can, because I do.

[FreakySnuckerCupidStunt]

From what I've seen, the pair of them have been laughing it up and reveling in the attention they're getting. Neither seem to be at all sorry about it, so, no, no sympathy from me.

[sausagerolemodel]

Can we all agree never to watch any stupid hidden camera Dom Joly style crap again then? I have always despised hidden camera entertainment shows and prank calls are just the radio version. It's cheap, shit entertainment and always at the expense of an innocent party. Point and laugh. The very basis of bullying and yet we condone it as entertainment....

[differentnameforthis]

So because it has been going on for a long time it's ok?

Right, I'll tell her children that then, or will you? That station is already under licence controls due to a sickening stunt where anotehr DJ forced a 14yr to confess she had been raped, while under lie detector testing LIVE on air, so it isn't like they don't know that these things can & do go wrong.

Who cares if they never intended it? Pranks by their very nature are meant to humiliate & embarrass, so they expected that at least & that is bad enough. They have no respect for anyone, at all & it sickens me that people think they can do this with little/no consequence.

Oh & you have proof that she had been having suicidal thoughts, do you? No, thought not.

[flow4]

The DJs have been taken off the air indefinitely.
The radio station is subject to investigation by the Australian media regulator.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-radio-hosts-who-made-prank-call-to-royal-hospital-taken-off-air-over-nurses-death-8393559.html

That poor woman and her poor family.

[flow4]

Oops, sorry:
//www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-radio-hosts-who-made-prank-call-to-royal-hospital-taken-off-air-over-nurses-death-8393559.html

[exoticfruits]

No- people ought to have more thoughts to the consequences. Not everyone can take publicity- even if happy and well balanced. The idea that everyone wants '5mins of fame' is utter garbage- even for a good reason.

[Bunbaker]

YABU. They should have thought about the consequences. It wasn't funny in the first place and now their actions will haunt them for a long time.

[exoticfruits]

It was one of the first things that my mother taught me. She knew someone injured in a common practical joke. DS had to have stitches after a practical joke went wrong. Always think it out first before you have your 'bit of fun' at someone else's expense- especially if exposing them to worldwide public ridicule.

[festivelyfocussed]

I have no sympathy with these DJs. Their actions were deliberate and thoughtless. Thos was not a joke it was a cruel prank.even a complete fucking idiot would have known that whoever fell for their shitty prank would be at risk of losing their job and being publically ridiculed.her previous mental state is no one's business and probably not even relevant. This poor woman was publicly humiliated and harshly criticised (including on this forum btw) how many of know how we'd hold up under that pressure? This woman sPent her professional life helping other ppl and probably saving a few lives along the way. The DJs - What good have they ever done through their work? Massive shame on them and everyone who joined in.

[meddie]

Firstly my main thoughts and sympathies are with the family of Jacintha.
How awful to feel that she felt suicide was her only option.I can't even begin to imagine the pain, humiliation and abject fear for her future she must have had.
I am a nurse and making an error and losing your registration over it is a constant fear. You are essentially left jobless without any qualifications and at 46 she must have felt that her career and livelihood was potentially destroyed for good.

As for the DJ's I just know I wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now. The worldwide condemnation, hate mail, destruction of their careers and the sheer misery they are going to endure over the coming months would take a strong person to be able to bear.

[Hulababy]

No, no real sympathy for them. They did something wrong and now need to face the consequences, even if those consequences are much worse than they had foreseen. If you do something stupid then you have to accept what happens regardless.

And the whole radio station had form, so they need to be having a big look at themselves and how they operate.

[DoesntTurkeyNSproutSoupDragOn]

No sympathy whatsoever. If you are going to play pranks you have to take the consequences, be they good or bad. They wanted a quick cheap laugh to entertain the listeners and they got something else. Perhaps they will think about the people they are pranking next time.

[FamiliesShareGerms]

I don't like practical jokes, and am really bad at taking them myself. But I don't think that the DJs could possibly have known how this would end, and if they did, surely they wouldn't have done it? Tragic, unforeseen consequences

[Longtalljosie]

As a journalist the thing that startles me is that it wasn't live. It was pre-recorded, and went to the managers and lawyers. And then broadcast. The decision to broadcast it was taken by someone more senior. They should be the ones carrying the can.

Frequently on live broadcasts, lines are crossed. From the top of my head, the Harold Shipman trial and the Soham trial both could have collapsed because of things said on live radio. But this wasn't live. It was carefully considered, and then broadcast. Which says they need new, better managers to me...

[SomeTiggyPudding]

"It was a stupid prank but no-one could have predicted that outcome." - I think you could have predicted there was a good chance that people would be upset.
Jeremy Beadle used to check the health of his prank victims before hand. The radio station didn't. Jeremy Beadle used to have to get permission from his prank victims before he showed them on TV. The radio station didn't.
You couldn't predict the person they called would kill herself, but you could predict with absolute certainty that you didn't know how she would react.

[SomeTiggyPudding]

but you could predict know with absolute certainty that you didn't know how she would react.

[SomeTiggyPudding]

I do feel sorry for all involved. Kate and William and the DJs, and of course the nurse's family.

[HECTheHallsWithRowsAndFolly]

No. I don't feel sorry for them.

This is the same station (don't know if it's the same people) who tricked a 14 year old child into telling them about her rape live on air. And then asked her "is that the only experience you've had?"

Sandilands once called a woman a foul name and told her something along the lines of 'shut your mouth or I'll hunt you down.'

That station needs dealing with.

While I don't think that calling the hospital pretending to be the queen was a terrible evil thing to do or anything, it had consequences that they couldn't have predicted and it should tell them something! They should understand that they don't know how someone is going to feel or react to their 'jokes'. (for want of a better word)