Quote: (12-14-2012 10:42 PM)porscheguy Wrote:
I don't understand why people expect them to quit or get fired. DJs do this shit all the time. Perhaps they're not prank calling hospitals where heads of state are admitted, but let's be honest, you can't be surprised that someone tried? As for the nurse killing herself over it, that sucks, but if that's all it took to send her over the edge, she was headed that way already. Expecting the DJs to be accountable for her death is pure bullshit.
I think this is something we, the living, tell ourselves to assuage guilt. Since most of us could never understand suicide, and what could push a person to that point (only someone that tried and survived can really describe it), we want ourselves to believe she was living a life of complete despair, and the end came after an accumulation of problems. Asian businessmen kill themselves because they made a mistake at work that may have resulted in someone's death. The shame pushes them to take their own lives. That one mistake does it, and not a series of problems. For this woman, it could very well have been that one thing, and even though it turned out to be a prank, she may have feared public humiliation and backlash for her "mistake."
As for the DJs, DJs and radio personalities get fired ALL THE TIME (Howard Stern has been fired more than once), only to be rehired after a little while by another station. The medium requires that they push the boundaries of taste on occasion, and say controversial things. Radio station-sponsored pranks are also common, with crank calls being among the staples. But all pranks aren't created equal, and in life punishment often comes based on the
result of something you do, if not the act itself. Radio relies heavily on listeners, and advertising. Companies are quick to pull their ads if they're product becomes associated with something distasteful. The station has to protect their business. They're donated all ad revenue for a certain period to the family, and the DJs themselves are devastated by what happened. What they THOUGHT was a funny, innocent prank didn't turn out that way. It was pretty much impossible to keep them on the air. My understanding is that they weren't fired - they still work at the station. They just lost their show.
