[paraclete]

A week ago some idiots posing as radio presenters impersonated the Queen and Prince Charles and made a prank call to a London Hospital. As a result the unwitting nurse who answered the phone and responded to their call was overcome, it seems, by shame and suicided. Now there was an international nature to this. The call was placed in Australia and answered in the UK and of course there were the targets, mambers of British royalty.

But this news item refuses to die. The circumstances are unfortunate, even tragic but there are people dying every day in conflicts and tragic circumstances, and yet this saga takes first place in media. We have been conjoled by how the pranksters are devistated, and how they have been dealt with, how their employers will pay damages, how the family will cope, will it never end?

[Azaleasrock]

I think it's gone viral due to being mentioned on sites such as this, amirite.com, thepoke.com etc. The more people discuss it (even if it's to say "Why the hell has this gone viral?", the more it will spread. These kind of stories are rather trivial and if more people didn't reference them online, they'd be less likely to go viral.

It may also have to do with people's obsession with the Royals. If something even vaguely involves them, people blow it out of all proportion (my favourite royal is Jim Royle).

[paraclete]

I agree that these stories are trivial, it gets beaten up locally because this radio station has a reputation for crass stunts and even crasser presenters, but I cannot understand the rage in the UK, like it is as though we personally insulted the monarch, committed treason or something. This is the 21st Century, not the 15th.

[tomder55]

No doubt some nanny stater will try to ban radio stunts .

[paraclete]

Yes they are already moving toward this but the public are more viscious than any ban
Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun

[tomder55]

I thought it was a pretty funny prank . That it ended in a tragedy is not something that can be blamed on the hosts .

[paraclete]

No, they are not to blame for the nurses death, I suspect there is much more to this than we are told. The brits can be very caustic when they want to be, and this nurse was Indian, so cultural complications, loss of face, and would have been under all sorts of job and peer pressures. From her cultural point of view she would have expected retribution against hereself and family members. The fact that it went viral just pushed her over the top.

However, this is one of a long line of incidents involving station staff. Obviously the station is willing to try public patience, believing any publicity is good publicity in pursuit of ratings, and loss of advertising revenue on a number of occasions has not deterred them. The costs of this stunt are many millions, not to mention human life, but the station ethos hasn't changed

[tomder55]

There have been cases where radio pranks have done things like cause riots. I'm a free speech type of person ;but in some cases they should assume responsibility and liability . I'm not sure that is the case here.

[speechlesstx]

They apparently love scaring the hell out of people in Brazil.


Fortunately no one had a heart attack or kicked the girl in the face. I think the station's prank was harmless, you'd think the hospital would have had a lot tougher protocol that would have prevented the receptionist from transferring the call. I would think the queen would know how to get in touch with Kate.

[paraclete]

Some people are niaive, that is just how it is. This nurse wasn't a receptionist, just in the wrong place at the wrong time helping out, Indians tend to be very intense, very correct, this would have gone down hard

[speechlesstx]

some people are niaive, that is just how it is. This nurse wasn't a receptionist, just in the wrong place at the wrong time helping out, Indians tend to be very intense, very correct, this would have gone down hard

The call went to a receptionist first. She's the screener.

[albear]

Hmmm I agree with you Paraclete, how dare they pollute your only source of news with an article that you are clearly bored with, I mean don't they know who you are? How bloody dare they.

[paraclete]

Hmmm i agree with you Paraclete, how dare they polute your only source of news with an article that you are clearly bored with, i mean dont they know who you are? how bloody dare they.

Yes I find most of the news boring, I would like the yanks to jump off that bloody cliff already, take some action or something, the DJ's to do the decent thing and jump off the Westgate bridge, and I expect a higher standard of journalism, not this boring repetition where they change a few words in an article and recycle it endlessly. I know this is the arsehole end of the year where there is no news worth having, but do we have to put up with this boring crap, there was a suicide, there are suicides everyday, very unfortunate. Even Ex is streatching to find topics. This is all the result of the GFC and media downsizing

[paraclete]

IT HAS COME TO THIS


England has now declared Australians bullies, because of the death of a nurse in London. Has anyone noticed we weren't within twelve thousand miles of her and she was surrounded by brits with a long history of bullying their neighbours
Bully for you: England's case of foot-in-mouth | News.com.au

[tomder55]

The real problem is what George Carlin called the 'pussification' of the Western world. It is just not reasonable to think that a harmless prank like the one the radio hosts pulled would result in someone being so traumatized that they would commit suicide . It's very hard to walk on egg shells .

[paraclete]

I don't think it is harmless to embarrass someone, however it would have been reasonable for there to have been proper security at the hospital given the nature of the press in the UK. I agree the western world is weak, weak laws and too much time on our hands