STG,

I did read somewhere that KS was on the streets in his early teens hence my reference to the gutter et al. Your Sam Newman narcissist comparison seems to me to be an interesting one. I still wonder if Kyles lack of regard for individuals is somehow linked to his past.

Experience tells me that those who come from dysfunctional or harsh situations in adolescence can often develop a lack of genuine sensitivity towards others. In some circumstances this can be viewed as egocentricity and or narcissist behaviour.

My comment about JO is that she seems to been desensitized by the lure of fame and money.

I hope you're right in that they'll both learn from the experience.

I do however take a larger view and wonder why the TEAM producers etc according to Media Watch were so compliant/willing to to suspend their sensitivities in favour for ratings. I assume now will cry "Nuremberg defense".

I also wonder at the mass public "Circus Maximus" mentality that encouraged such chook yard "pick on the vulnerable for amusement" abuse of power.

Antiseptic

Get over it. No one is very intersted in whether the girl was lying or not. The outrageous disrespect for her personal dignity is enough fuel for this topic.

If you crave attention, perhaps you could try your old conspiracy theory about feminists initiating sex scandals to take over men's positions of authority.

Come to think of it ... perhaps we're onto something here ... there was no 14-year-old girl at the radio station that day. She was a 47-year-old, hairy-armpitted, lesbian truckdriver posing as a 14-year-old.

Feminist truckdrivers want take control of commercial FM radio, because they have to listen to so much of its drivel.

examinator,

We'd probably find, if we had the access, that the ones the top floor of the studios were uncomfy with the likes of KS being on air but in the end ratings rule. Not that that excuses them, they sold their soul, so to speak, for financial gain.

I don't really know if they're learn from it. It isn't really such a personal sort of hit that would change people like that. KS won't see as he did anything wrong and JO will pop up somewhere else I'm sure.

Media owner Harold Mitchell was on TV last night saying that radio audiences' tastes had changed and that the likes of Sandilands are on the way out if for no other reason than sponsors don't want to be associated with such "celebrities".

Programs like MasterChef Australia were cited as examples of what people are tuning into more these days. Anything that goes towards more civilised viewing must be a plus.

RobP

I read similar comments, that family-oriented reality shows are cheap and topical and KS is on the skids for the same reason be was selected in the first place, over-dose of bogan in-your-face sensationalism.

Of course a minor should never have been subjected to a public interrogation about her sexual experiences. However it is interesting that the social commentators who are now scandalised by the recent interview have not previously complained about similar invasions of adolescent and teen privacy and the deliberate public humiliation of them that routinely occurs on other reality TV shows, especially on the Box.

It is easy to imagine that a young person who has been ruthlessly done over on (say) a talent show might ease the pain through cutting or seek a permanent solution for their humiliation. What are most of these reality TV shows and talk shows but an excuse to titillate a cringing bogan audience (and women are well-represented unfortunately), with examples of human weakness, 'sins' and stupidity that can make them feel better through comparison?

So no, the flogging of Kyle is not a triumph of public opinion but more of the same entertainment and for the sexual wowsers it is a heaven-sent opportunity for some lion versus Christians (er, Kyle) blood-letting, catharsis and self-justification.

I will believe that certain self-styled social commentators are truly concerned about youth when they broaden their attack to include all abuses of youth for public entertainment. Do they really think that the kid who has been stripped bare and humiliated on television by a powerful, hand-selected panel of 'experts' is OK when he is cast aside despite his most earnest performance at the insistence of a money-grubbing parent? Or the young teen laid bare by the TV psychologist she can barely understand will not contemplate a large dose of reality relieving drugs that night? What about anger about their rights and some counselling for them too?

RobP
Sorry, my previous post went outside of what you said (which I agreed with) and it should have been divided into two posts - one to you and the much larger part as a general reply.