Giacomo's analysis of the hospital hoax-call saga is a good one, and it's hard to disagree with except on two-points, one major, one minor.
Hit men, pimps, drug dealers, and con-men don't get excused because "they were doing their jobs" and that isn't an adequate defense in this case either.
The job these Aussies have is to attract and entertain an audience so advertisers can pitch listeners into buying something. Accomplishing those goals doesn't "have to" include scamming, hoaxing, and victimizing strangers by misrepresenting your identity or intentions or using other forms of fraud and deception to economically advantage yourself at the personal expense of others.
And in these so-called "pranks" there is always an unknowing victim who is hurt or damaged in some way, even if it is just interrupting their lives and taking away their personal time for a few minutes. Unfortunately, embarrassment and pain can too often result. If you can't be funny without hurting someone else than you aren't really that talented in a comedic way, and should look for another line of work.
That said, those of us in the radio business can certainly feel for these two Aussies, who had no idea of the possible consequences of their little scam. If you haven't heard, the bit was pre-recorded by them and screened and approved by management before it was ever aired. So, the suits are really in on the blame on this one. Still, it's safe to say the on-air duo probably won't be doing phone scams anymore, and are now globally infamous, which will not help their job prospects for the rest of their careers.
And that's the second and minor point I wanted to make. It isn't just hundreds of thousands of people, and folks mostly in the radio world, who know about this. It is more like hundreds of millions of people, and probably billions of people for whom this has be the equivalent of water-cooler talk all over the world. They know about this in places most Americans couldn't find on a map.
It was not only the lead story on the domestic BBC news channel in the UK, it was the lead story on the BBC International feed for an entire day on both TV and radio, it was the lead story on the NBC network news. Naturally, it was the top story in Australia, and it was top news in India, where the dead nurse was born and will be buried. I personally saw the actual coverage mentioned above, but it's a reasonable guess that news outlets all over the planet mentioned the story in their newscasts, in their newspapers, or on their websites.
No doubt, there are likely to be broadcasting rules in the UK, and Australia to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again, and proposals for the same kind of rules are likely to be made throughout the English speaking world and beyond.
Hit men, pimps, drug dealers, and con-men don't get excused because "they were doing their jobs" and that isn't an adequate defense in this case either.
The job these Aussies have is to attract and entertain an audience so advertisers can pitch listeners into buying something. Accomplishing those goals doesn't "have to" include scamming, hoaxing, and victimizing strangers by misrepresenting your identity or intentions or using other forms of fraud and deception to economically advantage yourself at the personal expense of others.
And in these so-called "pranks" there is always an unknowing victim who is hurt or damaged in some way, even if it is just interrupting their lives and taking away their personal time for a few minutes. Unfortunately, embarrassment and pain can too often result. If you can't be funny without hurting someone else than you aren't really that talented in a comedic way, and should look for another line of work.
That said, those of us in the radio business can certainly feel for these two Aussies, who had no idea of the possible consequences of their little scam. If you haven't heard, the bit was pre-recorded by them and screened and approved by management before it was ever aired. So, the suits are really in on the blame on this one. Still, it's safe to say the on-air duo probably won't be doing phone scams anymore, and are now globally infamous, which will not help their job prospects for the rest of their careers.
And that's the second and minor point I wanted to make. It isn't just hundreds of thousands of people, and folks mostly in the radio world, who know about this. It is more like hundreds of millions of people, and probably billions of people for whom this has be the equivalent of water-cooler talk all over the world. They know about this in places most Americans couldn't find on a map.
It was not only the lead story on the domestic BBC news channel in the UK, it was the lead story on the BBC International feed for an entire day on both TV and radio, it was the lead story on the NBC network news. Naturally, it was the top story in Australia, and it was top news in India, where the dead nurse was born and will be buried. I personally saw the actual coverage mentioned above, but it's a reasonable guess that news outlets all over the planet mentioned the story in their newscasts, in their newspapers, or on their websites.
No doubt, there are likely to be broadcasting rules in the UK, and Australia to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again, and proposals for the same kind of rules are likely to be made throughout the English speaking world and beyond.
Now I'll address the points you referenced...
