We've all heard about the poor nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, who allegedly committed suicide (autopsy being done to confirm) after being duped by the pair of Australian "shock jocks", Mel Greig and Michael Christian. My sympathy goes out to her loved ones.
Do I blame those DJ's for her death, no. They could not foresee that such an event would ever happen and now they're full of remorse. I do blame them for trying to catch a human mistake, to the dismay of the unknowing victim, for the amusement of their audience.
Truthfully I never liked "shock jocks". Hell, I don't even like Don Rickles or any other comic or "celebrity" who degrades or embarrasses others or does outrageous negative things to get a laugh or to scandalize. Howard Stern is one that comes to mind. But that's my opinion, obviously there's quite a large number out there who don't share those same views. They, like those who supply it, like to push things to the edge or beyond it. Nothing off limits.
2DayFM, the station who hired these disc jockeys, had been warned, this past year, by Australia's independent communications regulator when a radio host, while on the air, talked a fourteen year old girl into revealing she had been raped. This created listener outrage and some sponsor backlash but obviously not enough to stop such actions. The money still flowed and the people still tuned in. I don't understand the mentality of it all. I'm not saying to get them or anyone else like them off the air because, hey, if I don't like it I don't have to listen to it. What I am saying is lets have some common sense here. Think a little about the possible repercussions that might happen. Freedom of speech, as other freedoms, come with responsibilities.
The saying goes: it's funny until someone gets hurt. Well, unfortunately someone did.
How do you feel about this or "shock jocks"? Do you listen to any of them?
