Death Tied to Entercom's The End 107.9?

[jazzjock]

Re: Death Tied to 107.9?

Well the story is international, just picked it up on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6261509.stm

Sadly here in Rhode Island, we had The Station nightclub fire, which killed 100 people a few years back. Local rocker 94.1 WHJY was promoting the concert, and had given tickets away to be there that night to see Great White.

The manager of Great White ignited pyrotechnics, which set fire to the soundproffing foam, causing the whole place to go up.

How this relates to the tragedy in Sacremento..

Lawyers for the families of the victims, went after anyone and everyone. Clear Channel, the owners of the bus company who had leased the bus to the band, (as it carried the pyrotechnics across state lines), even the company that made the speakers the band used, as the wood/foam in the speakers added to the conflagration. I know this first hand, as I read the legal briefs prior to the court case.

Lawyers for this woman's family are going to far and wide to bring responsibility for her death, until they get to the correct target. This could drag on.

Jazzy Geoff
99.3WJZS Newport RI
BBC Herts/Beds/Bucks Early Riser correspondent

 

[IndigoCoyote]

Re: Latest Radio Promotion Gone Bad

Stunning stupidity, and heads will roll legally. People gotta be smart, ESPECIALLY since there was a criminal case brought, four convicted and jailed for invol. manslaughter, just up the road from Sacto in Chico two years ago for precisely this same issue. Part of a frat hazing gone wrong...and a promising 19yo guy drowned while standing on his feet. Called hypertropic shock. And a case very well known in Sacto.

All the boards accross the nation should be aware of this, but especially this one as The End in Sacto seems to be a farm team for Entercom Seattle.

 

[stan]

I wouldn't be surprised if the lawyers weren't already salivating at this mess.

 

[TheRover]

Re: The End of The End ? ? ?

SERIOUSLY,

It's a good idea to pee when you feel the urge. Our bodies get rid of toxins that way. By drinking lots of water.... and going to the bathroom whenever you need to, you bring health to your body.

At the job, I get up and go pee whenever I need to. Fact is, those people who "try" to have have "perfect" times on and off "the phones"..... they sure look good for awhile.... UNTIL THEY ARE OFF WORK FOR DAYS AND DAYS WITH A URINARY INFECTION ! ! ! ! !

So, for your Health..... don't hold it..... go often. If your employer doesn't like it.....

You can get a Doctor's note..... Whatever it takes.... to be Regular and Protect your Health.

Drinking an adaquate amount of water keeps your body hydrated. Stay Healthy !

 

[LITTLEBOYBLUE]

Re: Latest Radio Promotion Gone Bad

Defending Entercom is NOT something I do very often ... but in this case cops are NOT filing any kind of criminal charges. Apparently everyone is quite surprised at what happened ... and while I'm not a fan of "hazing" promotions, this one seemed to be a bit more "proceed until you're not comfortable doing it any more" kind of thing.

Saddest part of all is that the woman was doing this stunt to try to win the game for her children.

 

[RussAllen]

What's radio's next big promotion as we use and abuse our listeners?

Russian Roulette? Last one standing wins a Playstation?

Nah, it doesn't rhyme.

 

[dan_greenberg1500]

Re: Latest Radio Promotion Gone Bad

LBB,

I'll have to disagree with you on this. Ultimately the blame goes on the station for this one. Everyone from the Morning Show Interns to Upper Managment should have accessed the potential risks involved, and when it was realized something could possibly go wrong, the contest should have never went on.

I've read of two college hazing deaths involving water-poisoning in the past few years, the most recent being at Chico State which is about an hour and 45 outside of Sacramento. The story got a ton of media attention out of Sacramento, so in my opinion there was at least 1 person involved in the decision to run this contest that knew that it could go horribly wrong.

 

[AQH]

Re: Latest Radio Promotion Gone Bad

I'll have to disagree with you on this. Ultimately the blame goes on the station for this one. Everyone from the Morning Show Interns to Upper Managment should have accessed the potential risks involved, and when it was realized something could possibly go wrong, the contest should have never went on.

One of the other contestants in the article stated that the station asked them if they were sure they wanted to do this. And in this litigious society, I'm sure there was a signature waiver involved as well.

And let's remember that we do not know what this woman's condition was prior to the event. Did she drink water prior to the event? After?

Let's wait until the facts come out until we start distributing blame.

I've read of two college hazing deaths involving water-poisoning in the past few years, the most recent being at Chico State which is about an hour and 45 outside of Sacramento. The story got a ton of media attention out of Sacramento, so in my opinion there was at least 1 person involved in the decision to run this contest that knew that it could go horribly wrong.

Hazing involves a lot of involuntary stuff. Swirlies, wedgies, being forced to run naked outside in freezing temperatures.

Again, read the article. They handed the contestants bottles of water. Since your last paragraph likes to operate on assumptions, we can only assume that the woman drank the bottles of water herself.


I sincerely doubt the station forced any of the contestants to drink the water.

Let's wait until we get the facts out there.

 

[airwaver]

Re: Latest Radio Promotion Gone Bad

Thank you Detective Dansi....

 

[rapking]

107.9 The End water contest

A Woman from Saccramento try to win a contest on "107.9 The End "..and she dies . She Had to drink alot of water and dont go to the Bathroom .

 

[Kelly]

Re: Latest Radio Promotion Gone Bad

This incident rather reminds me of something equally bad for a radio station in Upstate N.Y. a few years ago. Back when Britney Spears was still something, a Clear Channel station, (in I believe Binghamton NY), was running a Britney interview on the air which had actually been recorded by the evening voice-track jock located in Chicago. The prize was concert tix in The Big Apple, but to make it look like Britney was actually in Binghamton, the station used a Britney look-a-like in a limo with security, etc., pulling into the station prior to the interview airing. Hundreds of people stormed the parking lot of the small station to get a look at her, with a woman unfortunately suffering a fatal head injury after slipping on some ice in the parking lot while trying to get a photo of Britney for her daughter. Again what seems like a good promotional idea, comes up with tragic results.

And yes, I am aware neither incidents happened in Seattle, but the point is those in the business of promotions and programming should be on the look-out for potential traps that could damage/ruin the reputation of the station and parent company, irregardless of geographic location.

 

[Stage5Clinger]

All the folks here in Sac that I've talked to agree that Geary, the Pd, Promotions Director, morning show, and even the guy that sprayed water on the window to try to get them to pee need to be held culpable in this one. They should to be blown out today. Now whether that will happen remains to be seen. It'll send the right message to the family, and hopefully will help them begin to heal. And btw, who's the legal guy that signed off on this? He must be a new, or insane. Either way, he above all others should have known better.

 

[tomservo]

But..

...did she win the Wii? ;D

 

[KevinFodor]

Re: 107.9 The End water contest

This is, truly...a sad, sad story.

Sad...because the owners and operators of broadcast stations, and their employees, are supposed to
know better.

As a truly "responsible licensee", a radio station (staff and management) are supposed to know that the first rule of conducting a radio contest is to ensure the safety of all participants.

The fact that this one didn't, and didn't think of the potential health consequences of the stunt on the participants leaves this station open for massive lawsuits, FCC fines and, yes I even suggest, the possible revocation of the station license. It's sad....'cause they brought it on themselves. As a broadcaster of almost 35 years now, I can only support the stiffest of penalties here. A stunt on a radio station is not supposed to bring on death.

 

[Neanderpaul]

Everyone needs to take a friggin' step back for a second.

Nobody could've possibly predicted that someone could possibly die from WATER!!!! Forever, we've been told drink a bazillion glasses of water every day. Water is good. Drink water. Stay hydrated. Can someone present a documented case of "death by water ingestion" that anyone would have been exposed to in order to use as a reference point? This was an innocently conceived contest that went bad. A horrible tragedy. End of debate.

I'm fairly certain everyone involved feels terrible about it, and piling on is just classless on everyone's part. It could've been any one of you. Radio is full of contests intended to make the listener look silly, or do something potentially embarrassing.This unfortunate incident, will probably put an end to all "stunt contests"

My sympathies to the woman's family, and all of those at Entercom Sacramento.

Those whom would pile on, or rip anyone during this, should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[beauduran]

Well said Mr. Marshall. Although I remember a story a while back about a college frat kid who died the same way when the frat decided to use water for its hazing rather than beer. I'm no medical expert, but I would suspect deaths in this manner are not quite common.

Every one of us who has ever worked for any Top 40/Alternative/Active Rock station has been a part of similar stunts. I think we're all just lucky that something like this has never happened to us. I do feel sympathy for the End's morning show and everyone else in that building who is involved. I hope people don't lose their jobs over this, becuase for me it comes back to an element of personal responsibility. I wasn't there but I doubt Lucas and/or Maney were holding the woman down and pouring water into her mouth. It may have been illconcieved on their part but the contestants willingly took part. I know I'm looking at this quite simply, but that has to count for something, doesn't it?

 

[Demodave]

Everyone needs to take a friggin' step back for a second.

Nobody could've possibly predicted that someone could possibly die from WATER!!!! Forever, we've been told drink a bazillion glasses of water every day. Water is good. Drink water. Stay hydrated. Can someone present a documented case of "death by water ingestion" that anyone would have been exposed to in order to use as a reference point? This was an innocently conceived contest that went bad. A horrible tragedy. End of debate.

Actually a little research would have shown that this can be very dangerous. This death happened fairly close by in Chico, CA in 2005:

SF Gate Article Link

 

[billalm]

What about shows such as Fear Factor and Survivor? Obviously these among others ask people to ingest and do things to their bodies that you really shouldn't. I look at this the same way. Although the radio contest sounds irresponsible and dangerous for those who participated, it would seem to me that as long as waivers and such were signed and approved by all the potentially impacted parties, there's nothing criminal here. However, you can count on civil suits forthcoming and the fact that Entercom has had no comment tells me they're probably already working out specifics to head off any prolonged bad press over this.

 

[Neanderpaul]

Everyone needs to take a friggin' step back for a second.

Nobody could've possibly predicted that someone could possibly die from WATER!!!! Forever, we've been told drink a bazillion glasses of water every day. Water is good. Drink water. Stay hydrated. Can someone present a documented case of "death by water ingestion" that anyone would have been exposed to in order to use as a reference point? This was an innocently conceived contest that went bad. A horrible tragedy. End of debate.

Actually a little research would have shown that this can be very dangerous. This death happened fairly close by in Chico, CA in 2005:

SF Gate Article Link

Of course the intense cardio exercise and hypothermia had NOTHING to do with this story right? In these cases, the ingestion of water was "forced."

The point is...Nobody could have forseen someone dying from voluntarily drinking water. It's just not something anyone would've considered. And to call out any radio host for a tragic accident is classless. Especially when it was documented that those hosts told people not to participate if they felt unsafe. Many people are calling for people's jobs, or some sort of legal accountability in this story and it serves no purpose. The woman won't be brought back. And nobody willfully put anyone in a forseeable hazardous situation. There was no malice.

It was an accident.

True accidents should never result in someone getting punished. That's why they're called accidents. This country always wants someone else to be responsible for individual behavior. I'm not saying the woman deserved to die, but nobody held her mouth open. She drank the water of her own volition. And a horrible accident that no everyday person could have predicted took place.

It's 100% tragic. Nobody can debate that. But, nobody's "responsible" for the woman's death. Accidents happen. People sometimes die from them. That happened here.

All over a videogame...

THERE lies the true crime.

 

[zman]

To me Common sense would dictate that drinking too much water or too much of anything and holding it in would be dangerous. Doesn't matter if it was just water. Just because they may not have known it was dangerous does not let them off the hook. Ignorance is no excuse.