Time to end radio pranks?

[TheBigA]

Well, according to Bob Costas, we should end RADIO because the pranks aired on it.

Using that logic, we should end TV because of Candid Camera and other TV pranks, including those Jay Leno does all the time.

 

[wadio]

Some folks in the radio industry need to grow up and stop doing these adolescent pranks.

Some have, and that's what's made radio boring and predictable. They just read the scripted liner cards. And you'll have fewer pranks because there are fewer DJs. They're all getting fired. So are you happy now?

Apples and oranges. Liner cards are the result of the suits wanting less "chatter," more music and more ad time ... not because of pranks. Management is all for pranks if they think they'll get attention. The DJs aren't the only adolescents.

 

[TheBigA]

Apples and oranges. Liner cards are the result of the suits wanting less "chatter," more music and more ad time ... not because of pranks. Management is all for pranks if they think they'll get attention. The DJs aren't the only adolescents.

Pranks are chatter. You don't have pranks at stations that read liner cards. You have another ten songs in a row. And if you fire all the air talent, you don't have any more pranks.

 

[HippieGuy]

Heard the Aussie Govt is deciding today whether to suspend the broadcast license of the Radio Station responsable for the nurse-suicide in London, as a result of their two jocks pulling the Kate Middleton prank...

The two jocks are now living in a safe house and radio show staff under 24 hour security due to many death threats

Serious stuff..

 

[leethalweapon]

Heard the Aussie Govt is deciding today whether to suspend the broadcast license of the Radio Station responsable for the nurse-suicide in London, as a result of their two jocks pulling the Kate Middleton prank...

ACMA won't suspend the licence. I think there will be a blowout of staff and (maybe) senior management first. The one thing ACMA will do, is force all involved to be named.

The two jocks are now living in a safe house and radio show staff under 24 hour security due to many death threats

Serious stuff..

The two jocks, and senior management.

The thing that is perplexing is, the British coroner opened the inquest, tabled the (alleged) suicide letters, then adjourned it until next year. So, until we find out what was written in these letters (the are brief outlines circulating in the press), 2DAY FM could be in limbo for a long time to come.

 

[JerseyBee]

Nobody knows what is going on in someone elses mind and the DJs would never have done that if they knew there could be such consequence. But think about it - if you set out to provoke someone to embarrassment, surprise, shock what is to say it wont come back on you? An unhappy woman may have been pushed over the edge by the stunt, but an angry person might take out their anger on a host or the station or in some way that is violent. The response you get might not be the one you were aiming for.

 

[Ai4i]

One disturbed individual ends it all, a few people enjoy a good laugh, and the rest of the world talks about it for way too long.
Look at what is going on in the world, today.
PERSPECTIVE: it just doesn't matter...@ ALL.

 

[wadio]

Look, if the people involved ... DJs and management ... had simply asked themselves the question, "If I or a member of my family were in the hospital, would we want to give up our privacy and would we appreciate someone playing a prank on us?" The answer would of course be no, so the prank would have been scraped and a woman would still be alive. It's really that simple. The prank had a worse than anticipated consequence, but that doesn't mean it was justified.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

With the news of the nurse who committed suicide, there are posters on the NYRMB calling for an end to pranks on the radio. If only the radio industry would listen those failed industry people on the NYRMB, everything in the radio world would be so much better off. :

...says the poster, hiding behind a screen name. It's really easy to snipe at people when there's no accountability.

BTW, what's in your résumé?

 

[TimeIsTight]

If only the radio industry would listen those failed industry people on the NYRMB, everything in the radio world would be so much better off. Roll Eyes

Failed Industry Types??? Really???

Just because you don't recognize the names, or really know what those guys (they are mostly guys) did in the industry before, or are actually doing now, don't be too sure.

Among the regular posters at the NYRMB there are a number of former NYC and other major market program directors who, not only made their mark in the past, but are now sought out as high fee consultants. There are many current and former major market and network news types who covered major stories over the years, and have names familiar to millions of radio listeners who actually pay attention to the news.

And there are current and former DJs and talk show hosts, who know lots about the music or their subject matter, and have had, or have, millions of listeners over their careers.

Some of the posters are voluntarily retired, but still in touch with lots of old friends in the business, and sometimes purposely post things their currently high profile friends would like to say, but can't because of their job situation. Somebody's got to say it, and the retired guys have the least risk in saying it.

If you are suggesting those NYRMB posters are just a bunch of bitter and unemployed former broadcasters, you couldn't be more off.

As to the prank situation, perhaps there is a misunderstanding of what some people define as "pranks" that should be eliminated?

I would define these objectionable pranks as: calling up strangers, out of the blue, fraudulently misrepresenting who you are, and trying to put the unknowing person called in an embarrassing positions for the sake of a "ha, ha" for your audience." If you want to prank a member of your show cast, go to it. They should expect it, and they are on the payroll. Under FCC rules, you are supposed to tell people you are recording them, when you first call. So, if done legally, the surprise element should be hard to pull off. I suspect most of the "pranks" you hear like this are actually scripted and done by paid actors.

As you might guess, my complaints about the Babba-Booey callers to newsrooms during crisis situation earlier in this thread, was based on frustrating experience. When you have millions of listeners relying on you to provide accurate information in a crisis situation, and being under a constant time deadline, distracting and repeated newsroom phone calls from an unknown number of nuts whose main goal in life is to "prank" themselves into live coverage so they can utter "Babba-Booey" is far more than ridiculous. Unfortunately, these pests come out when important news breaks. Nobody really knows how many newsrooms get called, and how many attempts have been thwarted. It's just an unnecessary extra burden for people who have a more important and immediate job to do.

During the Fox-5 TV coverage of the Connecticut shooting yesterday, the anchors took a live phone call from a young man who claimed to be a New Jersey friend of the brother of the alleged shooter. The Fox-5 news team was taking a real chance putting a total stranger on the air live. There was no way to actually verify that he knew that brother from Hoboken. He was well spoken and what he had to say added to the audience understanding of the story at that point in time. The Fox-5 news team made a good call in putting him on, but I was still waiting for the "Babba-Booey" at any second. Because of that threat, other newsrooms may not have been willing to take that chance. That's the problem. Even if they never make it on the air, these sick people are hurting the coverage of breaking news in multiple ways, and really need to be discouraged.