In "The End", Who's Responsible?

[AnaHadWolves]

We've all taken part in weird, wacky and wild contesting. Some have even been crude, rude, nasty and (possibly) quasi-legal. We live on the edge and follow the dictum "Never ask permission; always ask forgiveness" for our multiple on-air shenanigans. Radio, especially Morning radio, needs continuously to top itself to stay competitive. How many times have we seen a listener show up at the station or a remote naked except for three of our bumper stickers placed strategically? And, there are even crazier P-1's...we talk to 'em on the request lines...every day!

The "drink-till-you-burst" promotion probably sounded hilarious when proposed at the promotions meeting. But, remember one thing: no promotion takes place in a vacuum. The GM, GSM, Ops manager, PD and a half-dozen Account Execs probably all signed off on it.

So, who's responsible? Everyone is...even the poor woman who, unfortunately, died. She was an adult, however. She knew what the contest entailed. She accepted the risk(s) involved. She could have said "no" or quit at any time. She didn't.

Now, everyone from the Pope to the Governator to the FCC is having kittens over this tragic accident. The local Minion of Decency is scouring the lawbooks for an obscure and arcane way to prosecute SOMEone for this.

Jocks have been fired, careers ruined and radio gets yet another black eye. And, let's not forget that some ambulance-chasing, shiny-suited shyster of a lawyer is salivating at the prospect of getting 60% of a mega-bucks settlement.

Just remember, boys and girls, that no matter what kind of promotion we come up with, there's always someone who will take umbrage at how that promotion ends up and sue us...even if that person is an adult and the promotion sounds as harmless as just drinking water.

I'm in favor of just going back to handing out Koozies, CDs and MickeyDee's food coupons at remotes...even though I know we'll be sued by mothers whose babies chewed the Koozie, parents whose children got a booboo on their fingers on the CD case and by the survivor of some 350-pound pig who dropped dead of a coronary while face-down in a Big Mac.

You just can't win...

 

[DyingMedium]

What a load of cr@p you just dumped here.  Here is the bottom line on THIS issue: 

Jennifer Strange never would've swallowed a bunch of water without KDND announcing and running this so-called contest.  That's it.  Would she have done something like this without the encouragement of KDND and its Morning Show?  No.

She accepted the risk???  You cannot run a freaking contest where it's POSSIBLE a contestant might die.  Like it or not Mr Crappy Radio Apologist, an FCC licensed radio station has a responsibility to the community.  And that includes not putting them in a situation that could kill them.

"Now, everyone from the Pope to the Governator to the FCC is having kittens over this tragic accident. The local Minion of Decency is scouring the lawbooks for an obscure and arcane way to prosecute SOMEone for this."

Obscure and Aracane?  Uh, no...Try Involuntary Manslaughter...or even Depraved Indifference to Life. 

If the idiots associated with the KDND morning show had even considered, for a moment, the possible ramifications of this promotion, Jennifer Strange would be alive and 10 people would still have jobs.

Instead, they blew off any attempt to set them straight on water intoxication, killing Jennifer Strange and, eventually, killing KDND as you know it now.

And if you feel this way about radio promotions and your listeners, get out now...

- DM

 

[SirRoxalot]

Mirror Image

It seems to me that the definition of "depraved indifference" includes knowing that "water intoxication" exists, and killed a healthy young college student, yet you encourage contestants to drink massive amounts of water anyway.

Even IF the contestants were made aware of the danger - which does NOT appear to be the case in this instance - YOU have the responsibility to prevent contestants from putting themselves in danger. What's next, having contestants run across a busy, multilane superhighway dodging cars in order to win a PS3? At least contestants would be familiar with the idea that getting hit by a car moving at high speed can be fatal. In this case, we hear a moron from the radio station DISCOUNTING any danger. Just where did that idiot get his medical training?

Google "water intoxication". At the top of the list is a Wikipedia entry. About 12 lines into the article, it says:

Consuming as little as 1.8 litres of water (0.48 gal) in a single sitting may prove fatal for a person adhering to a low-sodium diet, or 3 litres (0.79 gallons) for a person on a normal diet.

Were the contestants made aware of that? Were they given access to a computer, or medical personnel, who could warn them of the danger? Were they able to hear the nurse who called in to express concern? The answer to all of these questions appears to be NO. To shift the responsibility to the woman who died is ludicrous.

This was NOT an ACCIDENT. This was a fatal cocktail of inexperience, hubris, stupidity, and carelessness. If the people who conceived and executed this contest feel bad, GOOD. Should people who manage and oversee those people be held responsible? YES. That's the essence of management and oversight - knowing what your people are doing.

This will, and should, cost Entercom millions. In my opinion, some people need to do jail time, and others need to do community service. All of them should feel an economic pinch from this incident for a long time, just to remind them of the consequences of their action, or inaction.

Civil and criminal law procedures will determine legal responsibility for this senseless death. Let's hope that a LOT of people in our business look at themselves in the mirror and rethink their attitudes toward the listeners. Asking contestants to embarrass themselves is one thing. Asking them to do something that puts them in mortal danger is an entirely different proposition.

 

[wcrzx]

Great lets do away with ALL promotions and remotes.

God forbid somebody gets a hangnail at a remote and sues us!!!

Whatever happened to an individual taking responsibilty for their own actions!!!!

No wonder the country is goinging in the crapper. If nobody had died I guarantee many more stations would have done the same promotion.

I am sorry she died but NOBODY MADE HER ENTER THE CONTEST.NOBODY FORCED HER TO DRINK THE WATER. SHE VOLUNTEERED.

 

[DyingMedium]

Feel free to keep on missing the point...It wasn't a hangnail or a scratch or even a broken leg...She DIED during a contest sponsored by an FCC licensed station.

Plus, it wasn't even a remote...It was INSIDE the radio station. You can still be edgy w/o putting your listeners in mortal jeopardy.

Great lets do away with ALL promotions and remotes.

God forbid somebody gets a hangnail at a remote and sues us!!!

Whatever happened to an individual taking responsibilty for their own actions!!!!

No wonder the country is goinging in the crapper. If nobody had died I guarantee many more stations would have done the same promotion.

I am sorry she died but NOBODY MADE HER ENTER THE CONTEST.NOBODY FORCED HER TO DRINK THE WATER. SHE VOLUNTEERED.

 

[wcrzx]

Agreed

My point is NOBODY FORCED HER to participate. She is responsible for her own actions!

 

[SirRoxalot]

My point is NOBODY FORCED HER to participate. She is responsible for her own actions!

Yes, she's responsible for listening to the idiot(s) from the radio station that assured her that she'd "puke before you can drink too much water" and that "The body is 98% water. You can't die from drinking too much".

What about their "personal responsibility" to assure the ultimate safety of their contestants? What about their "personal responsibility" to research "water intoxication" when they were aware that it has KILLED people in the past?

That sword cuts both ways. In this case, I'd hate to be on the radio station side. Their abdication of responsibility KILLED a young wife and mother. Period.

 

[wcrzx]

And her STUPIDTY got her killed!

 

[Chris_Rose]

Frankly, it looks like the former employees of "The End" started this post in a desperate attempt for sympathy. Nice try guys. I suggest you spend your time finding a decent lawyer.

 

[shooty]

Do any of you have jobs? Do any of you have anything better to do? This is a story because of the ignorance of the Sacramento media not knowing how to report on any other news than BLOOD SELLS!

Sorry Jennifer. It doesn't look like many people on this board will let you Rest in Peace! What a shame!!!

 

[Chris_Rose]

Hey Shooty, are you smart enough to see the irony in your post?

 

[DyingMedium]

Quibble with her choices if you like, but it was the radio station's choice to put this whole thing into action and to IGNORE warnings from nurses and listeners.

BTW...if you're going to call the poor woman stupid, at least spell it correctly.

And her STUPIDTY got her killed!

 

[shooty]

Yes, Chris_Rose, I am. And it shows YOUR intelligence level for replying.

 

[The Goodfellow]

Quibble with her choices if you like, but it was the radio station's choice to put this whole thing into action and to IGNORE warnings from nurses and listeners.

BTW...if you're going to call the poor woman stupid, at least spell it correctly.

And her STUPIDTY got her killed!

Radio-Info should supply a spell check as well as an informed check. Either way, WCRZX would have been corrected!

By the way the word is STUPIDITY and it should not be in the same sentence as the victim! [EDIT].

Goodfellow




[inflammatory].

 

[TheRover]

Agreed

My point is NOBODY FORCED HER to participate. She is responsible for her own actions!

It is the ir-responsible actions of the station crew and management, and ownership, that that the Prosecutors will be bringing forth.....

BTY, no one "FORCED" The End to have this contest.

Yes, willful action$ will be taken into account .

 

[wcrzx]

It amazes me that some many people are blaming the jocks and station but not the contestant. I could swear nobody made her enter the contest, keep drinking etc.

And sueing will do what?

 

[content]

It amazes me that some many people are blaming the jocks and station but not the contestant. I could swear nobody made her enter the contest, keep drinking etc.

And sueing will do what?

Your observation is correct. Our litigious society has created an environment where we are no longer responsible for our own behavior. The radio station staff could have taken additional safety precautions (and in retrospect, should have..). However, our society has evolved to the point where adults are no longer responsible for their own decisions and actions. With that said, as a good community citizen, a radio station should take every action they can to insure contestant safety, but ultimately the participants are responsible adults and should be able to make their own decisions.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Who Indeed?

One can only be responsible for their own decisions IF they are making decisions based on accurate criteria. In this case, the woman was assured by the staff of the radio station that she'd puke before she could drink enough water to have to worry about water intoxication. The staff knew that water intoxication existed, and that it could be fatal, but didn't research it adequately or bring in qualified medical personnel to evaluate the contestants.

Another factor is relative body mass. The woman who died was relatively small and slight. Like any toxin, the dosage required to put her in danger was lower than other people in the contest. That's another factor that the people running the contest ignored, and another factor that qualified medical personnel would likely have recognized.

Contestants in a radio station contest have a reasonable expectation that the contest won't put them in mortal danger. It was the "personal responsibility" of the people running the contest to check into the dangers of the contest and inform the contestants that they were putting themselves in jeopardy. This is what's called "informed consent". Since the staff reassured the contestants that they were experiencing mere discomfort, not the symptoms of a much more dangerous malady, they're the ones responsible for this cluster fu - uh - unfortunate outcome.

 

[cabradio]

Re: Who Indeed?

One can only be responsible for their own decisions IF they are making decisions based on accurate criteria. In this case, the woman was assured by the staff of the radio station that she'd puke before she could drink enough water to have to worry about water intoxication. The staff knew that water intoxication existed, and that it could be fatal, but didn't research it adequately or bring in qualified medical personnel to evaluate the contestants.

Another factor is relative body mass. The woman who died was relatively small and slight. Like any toxin, the dosage required to put her in danger was lower than other people in the contest. That's another factor that the people running the contest ignored, and another factor that qualified medical personnel would likely have recognized.

Contestants in a radio station contest have a reasonable expectation that the contest won't put them in mortal danger. It was the "personal responsibility" of the people running the contest to check into the dangers of the contest and inform the contestants that they were putting themselves in jeopardy. This is what's called "informed consent". Since the staff reassured the contestants that they were experiencing mere discomfort, not the symptoms of a much more dangerous malady, they're the ones responsible for this cluster fu - uh - unfortunate outcome.

Did you not read that the late Mrs. Flowers worked in a Medical Office. She had ample resources to determine if she should participate, or to what extent.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Re: Who Indeed?

Did you not read that the late Mrs. Flowers worked in a Medical Office. She had ample resources to determine if she should participate, or to what extent.

That would only be true if she was knew the parameters of the contest (how much would she be asked to drink, and at what interval) ahead of time - facts which were not available to her. It is my understanding that she was restricted to a kitchen area during the contest, and did not have access to the on-air warnings from callers, or to Internet access so she could do her own research into "water intoxication". She relied on the inaccurate assurances of the radio station staff that the contest was safe.

Listen to the audio. The staff was made aware that water intoxication was dangerous, said that "they knew all about it", and joked about the possibility of a contestant dieing. The contestants weren't able to hear the callers who warned of a possibly fatal outcome. They just heard that "they'd puke before they could drink too much water", and that "the body is 98% water, so how could drinking too much water hurt you". That puts the staff squarely on the hook for the outcome.

By the way, Mrs. Strange was a receptionist at a medical office - hardly a "medical professional".