Last week 2 radio hosts impersonated the Queen to gain information about her grandaughter-in law. Their opinion was that it was a great prank and congratulated them selves for pulling it off. Oh, they apologized but were still laughing and joking about it after that, so the apology was not sincere. They viewed themselves as being very clever.

I am of the opinion that impersonating someone, for gain, is against the law. The gain here is publicity for their 3rd rate radio show. If so they should lose their jobs and be prosecuted.

The tradegity is that the person duped took her job seriously and was so humiliated that she took her own life. The pranksters have been suspended now, but I reckon that is only to save the radio station further embarrassment. These idiots do not have enough brains to have any remorse.

I agree Banjo, hope these two never work in radio again.
Oh many will say it has been done for years, and it has, but for what reason?
A girl is dead, because two fools wanted publicity.
I can never forgive that.

I guess the Palace could sue them for defamation, it'd be hard, if not impossible to prove that the sole cause of the lady's suicide was due to the shame of being tricked into breaching hospital protocol. I've lived with depression and anxiety for thirty years, the suicidal urge is always at the back of one's mind but, in my case at least it's not usually made worse by a single incident or shock. Things can build up over time to a point where I have to say something to my wife so she knows I'm not coping but, again, in my case a personal drama can sometimes work in the opposite way, giving me something else to focus on since the way I deal with the illness is to set myself tasks and short term goals and I keep to a very strict routine.
I know, I know, it's easy for someone who has learned to manage his illness to speculate on another's state of mind, she may not have even known how close to the edge she was and she may not have had someone to talk to, the prank really could have been the last straw.

I'm inclined to agree with Jay on this one. My first thought was that this incident had tipped the lady over the edge...a very sad outcome.

Just wanted to mention that I've noted that there are shows on telly directed at young people where the whole premise of the show is to "prank" people. My son doesn't appear to seek them out, but he happened across one recently, and I waffled on to him that I couldn't understand how anyone could be entertained by someones else's discomfort. He said, "But they're always so happy when they find out the truth." I replied that the reason they're so happy is "relief".

So yes it's all very ha, ha, ha, in our fortunate first world paradigm where networks make prank shows for the entertainment of young people. The radio jocks carry on in the same tradition...apparently causing people grief is the new entertainment.

Radio announcers could not possibly have seen the outcome of this. Would people feel the same if one of our pollies topped themselves as a result of the Chasers or other ABC humour? Very sad outcome indeed but people are being a bit hard on the announcers. Surely Kylie and co have reached much lower without the tragic outcomes that we know of.

Well I'm sorry but I think these poor radio hosts are going to have to live with this unfortunate tragedy for the rest of their lives. The prank was not done with malice and while it was pretty inane it should have been harmless enough.

One of the great tragedies of any suicide are the bewildered and distraught family members who often blame themselves for what has happened.

“No one should feel responsible for someone else making the choice to take their own life. Even if you really feel that you could have been of more help, you will never know whether anything you might have done or not done would really have saved the person's life”
http://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/Common-experiences-associated-with-suicide-bereavement.html

I do not see these two as heartless radio shock jocks rather pranksters, typical of many Australians. If someone had been shot because of the Chaser Bin Laden prank it again would have been a tragedy but I for one would not want to suppress this style of humour.

They have a rough time ahead of them. Besides this unfortunate woman's friends and family my thoughts are also with them both.

Dear runner,

I had prepared the above and went to post it and saw your contribution. I will say I shows an insight that was unexpected from you. Thank you.

csteele

amazingly we are on the same page with this one. Surely the announcers having to live with this is enough punishment for what most would of considered a fairly benign joke. Maybe the media making such a fuss over a little morning sickness was the thing that was totally overboard.

Yes, csteele, that was my intended meaning....that one would imagine there were other underlying issues in addition to the prank that led to a decision to suicide.

I also agree with runner that the media go a little (a lot) ga-ga over anything like this - (although the morning sickness in question appears to have been more than "a little")

We need legislated code of conduct rules for media. The likes of sandilands calling someone a fat slag, and Jones over the top comments, putting someone in a chaff bag. The comments have no value, and put us as a nation in a bad light.
The latest impersonator, is a national disgrace.
And now someone has suicided, No amount of underlying problems will fix anything, that is only making excuses for something that was a valueless prank, and should not have happened. That is not informative or entertaining.

I was awake and on Twitter only minutes after this story was broken at 2:10AM AEDST Saturday 8 December: It was 3:10PM GMT Friday in London when BBC Breaking tweeted it. https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/277067690546429952

The first thing to note is that the claim as to the death having been a suicide is purely a media claim. The police have used the terms 'unexplained' and 'not suspicious' in relation to this death, and indicated cause will not be known until an autopsy can be conducted. The time and place of death is reported as having been 9:35AM GMT Friday 7 December, in premises near to the King Edward VII private hospital described as nurses' quarters.

The second thing to note is that the nurse involved is reported as having taken the hoax call at around 5:30AM GMT on the day it was made (Tuesday?) only because there was no receptionist on duty at that hour of the day, and that her only involvement was in putting the call through to the nurse on duty in the ward. The dead nurse conveyed no information whatever to the 2dayFM DJs as to the medical condition of the Duchess of Cambridge. Hospital management has been at pains to assert that the dead nurse had not been subject to any disciplinary action or considered at fault in putting the call through as she did.

The third thing to note is that as far as I saw in real time there was little if any Twitter abuse or outrage of the like claimed in the media. Nothing obviously connected was trending between 2:10AM and 10:30AM AEDST. A Twitter user I follow located in the UK observed, at 10:26AM AEDST Saturday, around ten hours after the story had broken, that "Theres not been a lot tweeted as far [as] I can tell so don't know ... its odd. Awful thing to happen." https://twitter.com/emmaZbolland/status/277192272251072513

All is most definitely not as it is being made to seem. OTT damage control, IMO.

To those that are posting excuses and sympathy for the two idiots on radio.

It is beyond time that people, that are supposed to be adults, took responsibilty for their actions.

I see this in the same light as a hoax call to emergency services which may place somebody else in jeaprody. I had this view well before the nurse took her life.

The point being that the two concerned were still joking about it even after apologizing. They showed no remorse then and I do not believe they have any now. I bet they are still sniggering to each other about how clever they are. It sickens me to see their employer saying they are concerned about the idiots well being. They deserve to be hauled over the coals in every possible manner. At least sacked and never to work in radio again, and prosecuted. Paraded and publicly humiliated seems fitting.

Jeff Kennett, and others, is a fool to take the presenters side. They are not victims as some are making out. Totally irresponsible and a good arguement for increasing the eligible age for driving and voting.

Poirot,
Yes I've seen those shows on ABC3, ironically they all originated in the U.K, which is now known for producing the worst children's television on the market, I tell my kids that shows like "Dani's Place" will give them brain damage. If you look at the kid's shows produced here, in Canada and the U.S, shows like "My Place", "De Grassi" or "Blue Water High" and so on they're leagues ahead of the dross coming from the U.K.
When I was a kid my parents and teachers always told us that practical jokes were not funny, like sneaking up on someone and frightening them or otherwise humiliating another person.

Forrest,

Thanks for that. You're right that the lady's death has been termed "unexplained". I'm sure you'll follow developments on that front.

Jay,

I agree....although I believe there have been a few US shows formulated on pranking.

My point was that this type of entertainment is seen as profitable. It really targets the lowest common denominator as far as social interaction is concerned. Although I believe that these shows are somewhat removed from the type of prank carried out by the two DJs, the one thing that stands out is the absolute panic, confusion and discomfort of the victims. My aversion to watching such a spectacle is absolute. That these shows are directed at children, I believe, serves to desensitise them - and if they see it regularly on TV, they're likely to believe that it is acceptable behaviour.

Pranking shows are a kind of sadism as far as I'm concerned.

It is not against the law simply to impersonate somebody else . If it were that simple , there would not be any fictionalised stories in film or on TV . There would be no satires .

Apart from simply saying that the caller is somebody else , the caller would need to use the misrepresentation of identity to achieve some unlawful purpose , such as obtaining money or credit .

It is , of course , dreadful that a nurse committed suicide following the prank call . To what extent she did so , solely because of the prank call and not , at least partly , because of a pre - existing condition , is not presently known publicly . No doubt she was subjected to considerable harassment by hospital authorities because she embarassed the hospital patient 's family .

Some of the blame for this sad outcome must be attributable to the ridiculous amount of attention that has been given in the media to a woman suffering morning sickness .

Had the hospital patient not been the wife of a member of the Windsor family , or some other class of "celebrity " , her condition would not have attracted any publicity . The level of publicity which the media gives to every little incident involving a member of the Windsor family necessarily means that they are unable to have any privacy .

This is a price which they pay in return for the privileged place which they are accorded because of their position in the British and Australian constitutions .

In both their interests , and the public interest , the monarchy in Britain should be abolished so that the Windsors can become ordinary citizens and earn a living from their own exertions . In time , they will enjoy all the privacy which they now claim to crave .

People wear masks of the Queen, Prince Charles etc so that could be
impersonating someone, but no one gets arrested.
However they did commit a crime against the Telecommunications Act.
I heard Combe saying something about ACMA looking into it.

Probably, get a slap on the wrist.

It appears that these two personalities have done damage to Anglo/Australian relations.

My cousin has just returned to London. At Heathrow a gentleman offered to help him with his luggage as he is partly infirm. But on hearing his Australian accent, the 'good samaritan' dropped his luggage and walked off.

Apparently, not everyone appreciates roguish Aussie humour.

Jaylex,
This matter has nothing to do with the royals. The call could have been about any high profile person. The callers were seeking publicity for their silly radio show.

When the episode went to air, the nurse would feel acutely that she had failed in her professional duty. Perhaps her english was insufficient to detect a false accent, and she took the call as genuine. No doubt the incident was talked about by the staff, her peers. Now she felt the whole world was critical of her.

The radio jocks, and station management, are to blame for this, irrespective of whether a person died or not. They are the ones that should be made to pay, by resigning never to be heard on radio again.

In Japan such a humiliation would require the offender to literally 'fall on their sword' however here in Australia a simple "Sorry" seems to fix everything up.
Personally I thing the pair should never be allowed to work again in any capacity.
CG

It's interesting that nobody has commented on the role that the King Edward VII Hospital played in this sad development - particularly its Governor, Lord Glenarthur who is ultimately responsible for both incidents - the "prank" and the suicide.

There are several unanswered questions about this that suggest it was the negligence of the Hospital itself to implement protocols to prevent such an incident from occurring in the first place, and then severly admonishing and allegedly suspending those staff involved without pay that also probably contributed to the nurse' suicide.

Then there are the Royal "minders" who also share some degree of responsibility.

It's not as clear-cut as the self-serving media make out.

Wobbles,
Can you supply a link to an article that states the hospital repremanded and suspended the nurses.

To the best of my knowledge, the hospital issued a statement saying it did not intend to take any action regarding the staff who were duped, although I saw another article saying the two staff members were due to have talks with management early this week.

My thoughts mirror those of runner and csteele.

While it is a tragedy, some have taken it on themselves to move en masse to bully the two DJs for what was intended as a harmless prank. While pranking is an inane practice and further highlights the LCD approach to media, DJs and radio stations have been doing it for years. Who would have predicted such an outcome.

The full facts are not yet known including if there was permission sought from the targets of the prank - it now seems there was not which is another issue.

If one was to analyse all behaviours and actions of the DJs, the radio station management, the hospital, the royal family and hospital staff concerned, I am sure all parties would choose to do something different with the knowledge and wisdom of hindsight.

The best approach is one of sympathy and compassion for all concerned for what was a tragic set of circumstances. Why do people always look for someone to blame then target them without mercy.

Pelican,
I disagree with you.

I felt the two radio jocks should have been sacked for pretending to be relatives of a hospital patient in order to gain information. That to me is a sackable offence and I held that view before the nurse died.

At the very least the radio station knew the duped nurses would be in trouble once it was broadcast.

It is the radio station that is trying to blame others for their part in the death, unintended as it was.

They are saying "Don't blame us, we only gave her a push, it was gravity and the concrete below that killed her"

Banjo

No-one disputes the DJs were wrong in seeking private information about a patient which is I believe illegal and they should have stopped immediately when they realised their prank call had been taken as legitimate.

I agree they went too far but what we are seeing is nothing short of a lynch mob and to quote one commentator 'wise and calm heads are needed now' in the aftermath of this incident (can't remember who it was now)