[nirvAnA]

Family of nurse Jacintha Saldanha who killed herself blame prank deejays for death
Saldanha was found dead three days after taking a phone call at London’s King Edward VII Hospital from radio deejays Mel Greig and Michael Christian. The morning radio hosts in Sydney, Australia, impersonated Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles to try to pry out information on the health of Prince William’s pregnant wife.

Source

You Tube

You Tube

Radio pranksters Michael Christian and Mel Greig were suspended by their Australian radio station.

Losing a life over "reputation" is such a shame and this happens ALOT in South Korea where celebrities commit suicide over rumours and allegations on the internet. Also check out this perspective from Internet God Maddox http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/...=suicide_blame

What are your thoughts on the whole situation?

[ToRDjvillian]

My thoughts are not allowed to be expressed unfortunately or ill get in trouble at work

[SLCN.Kez]

Pretty silly to throw away your life because some people pranked you into giving out information tbh

Also, in a totally rational world, it's silly to suspend the radio broadcasters as well, but can't say I'm surprised they did. If nothing else happened they wouldn't get in any trouble what so ever, just like the other thousand pranks that radio stations have done in the past. Because there were ramifications this one time that no one could have foreseen they suddenly get reprimanded for it?

[ROCCAT_Savior]

Originally Posted by Kez

Pretty silly to throw away your life because some people pranked you into giving out information tbh

Also, in a totally rational world, it's silly to suspend the radio broadcasters as well, but can't say I'm surprised they did. If nothing else happened they wouldn't get in any trouble what so ever, just like the other thousand pranks that radio stations have done in the past. Because there were ramifications this one time that no one could have foreseen they suddenly get reprimanded for it?

Pretty much this. It's obviously a terrible tragedy, but in my opinion killing yourself over a prank is a little bit extreme.

[iMSystem]

I think this has been blown out of the water too much. If you listen to the call they did, there was really nothing that devestating.

Something I just found out today, is that the person who committed suicide, was actually the person who transferred the call to the room. Not the actual nurse who told the 'personal' information of patient.

I'm sure there has to be something else to the reasoning why, and the whole blame cannot be placed on these two.

Quick Comments

	Bash:	i heard it was the other way around and the one giving info committed.
	mGGAequitas:	yeah system is right, the one who suicided talked for 2 seconds

[iM tgun]

Suspending them from their radio show is stupid. They were obviously allowed to do this prank.. now the stations are covering their asses? Come on. It's not their fault she was gullible enough to believe that they were who they said they were..

Seriously, if someone called you up and said they were the Queen, wouldn't you ask for some sort of verification? :/

Quick Comments

nirvAnA:

The verification was the appaling accent lol!

[|Erasmus|]

These kind of calls are pretty ******* stupid to begin with, but other than that, pretty much what tgun said.

[ToRSpookToR]

isn't illegal to impersonate a head of state?

Quick Comments

ROOTPetraeus:

spook stop it

[Asrathiel]

Stupid prank, just like most radio station pranks. Obviously the woman had other issues going on in her life though. Very sad for her family.

Maybe it'll get radio stations to stop and think about their silly pranks? They're messing around with people's lives, and obviously they don't know what impact their shit will have.

[Cyanide]

The british media is notorious for blowing things out of proportion and sensationalizing the shit out of everything.

The vindictive approach against the presenters taken on by many is really quite saddening too. Welcome to the internet. =/

That said, I can see why they have been given a suspension. It was necessary, you HAVE to cover your asses. Regardless, the presenters would most likely have taken a "break", suspension or not. Serving it as a suspension was the "correct" move by the station.

I think we can all agree it was tragic, as gullible as she may be.

I am however uncertain if the prank was the actual cause of it all. It's really quite hard to see that a single prank such as this could take such a tragic turn. Maybe it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, but what were the other straws?

Quick Comments

cruxis:

Some dude pranked his wife on radio then she comes out and admits to sleeping with his brother. Was pretty lol.

[aLtShortizz]

Do a quick search about the male DJ.

Apparently hes a self obsessed attention seeking dude who's managed to piss off everyone on board rihanna's plane during her tour. Despite all the other journalist's and staff's irritation and annoyance, he seems to be enjoying his 10 seconds on fame by declaring it on twitter and stuff.(Read these in the papers). And i wont be surprised if hes even enjoying this now.

I dont agree with what tgun said. Prank calls are fine, but impersonating a head of state? That sounds abit serious to me. Whats gonna happen if it becomes a norm and everyone starts impersonating head of states and fish out information about their family members. IIRC, impersonating a family member and fishing out information about a patient in itself is against the law in some countries.

But of cos, its the hospital's job to train their staff and make sure this doesnt happen. But come on, shes probably freaking out just from getting a call from the ''queen''. Can you imagine how fast ur heart would race if you receive a enquiring call from your Prime Minister?

Its a stupid prank and a silly and unfortunate over reaction but at least its safe to say that it probably wont happen again.

[Bash]

All prank calls are bullying. but generally, they're funny, and we like our funny~ Remember the "Gotcha" calls?

Now imagine if someone committed suicide "because" of those, we wouldnt celebrate them anymore would we?
Matt Tilley would be thrown under a bus.


Obviously it was pretty stupid, i mean, we have to draw the line somewhere, and i think prank-calling nurses is a bit much, but its no more harmful than it was before she killed herself, she reacted in the most extreme way possible, i mean killing youserlf over a prank call ?!

Yes, its damaging to your reputation, its embarrassing, its a horrible thing to do on their behalf, but its no more or less horrible than it was before she killed herself, and i'd say there was obviously more going on in her life.

[SLCN.Wally]

Originally Posted by Bash

All prank calls are bullying. but generally, they're funny, and we like our funny~ Remember the "Gotcha" calls?

Now imagine if someone committed suicide "because" of those, we wouldnt celebrate them anymore would we?
Matt Tilley would be thrown under a bus.


Obviously it was pretty stupid, i mean, we have to draw the line somewhere, and i think prank-calling nurses is a bit much, but its no more harmful than it was before she killed herself, she reacted in the most extreme way possible, i mean killing youserlf over a prank call ?!

Yes, its damaging to your reputation, its embarrassing, its a horrible thing to do on their behalf, but its no more or less horrible than it was before she killed herself, and i'd say there was obviously more going on in her life.

I would assume she was having major depression problems before hand, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing you do when you are embarrassed. But you know how media is? They manipulate stories however they like.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by ChickaChuckWally

I would assume she was having major depression problems before hand, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing you do when you are embarrassed. But you know how media is? They manipulate stories however they like.

ya that would be the most likely thing, something like this happening could definitely "push someone over", but i doubt its the "reason" itself.

You gotta hope these 2 are tougher than that nurse though eh? The amount of shit being thrown at them right now.("blood on your hands" etc)

[NOM]

They deserve to be suspended, they were committing fraud.

[mGGAequitas]

She also watched spongebob before going to work, therefore the blame is 100% on this cartoon. The show should be removed from air and it's creators should be arrested for causing her death....

Quick Comments

mGGNemesis:

...

[SLCN.Wally]

They found a copy of Call of Duty at her grandmother in law's grandson's Friend's place, Video games kill again

Quick Comments

	Bash:	lol
	Seffy:	inb4 Jack Thompson joins in.
	TADivinity:	lol, im on the exact same page as you on this. This is all forced causation
	nirvAnA:	hahaha

[Seffy]

Agreed with Wally. The media does manipulate stories to their advantage.

I do think the prank went a bit far, there definitely is a line to draw and they went past it (as someone here has said).. but even more so the reaction was just way too extreme in my personal opinion. I would go with the others and think that there is something behind the scenes.

Just hoping that people who would do a prank would learn from this and realize there is a line on pranks.

[Zakattack]

lol ffs who here has never done a prank call

but impersonating the queen fuuuuuuuuuuuuuk man i cant believe the nurse fell for it like the queen would phone herself for starters lol....

Quick Comments

NOM:

i have never done one :)

[Delraich]

I think there are a number of issues to consider in this case:

• It seems generally accepted that the nurse was publicly embarrassed/ humiliated at an international level as a result of this prank.
• It seems reasonable to assume that this embarrassment/ humiliation impacted the nurse on both professional (e.g. if she breached patient confidentiality, she may be worried about allegations of professional misconduct and the legal proceedings that go with that) and personal levels (being on the receiving end of international scale cyber bullying).
• There seems to be a reasonable argument that this prank was not legal/ breached Australian standards (e.g. consent was not obtained from the nurse prior to broadcasting; consent was not obtained to record the phone call).

When going through each point above, one would need to consider:

• Do you think that bullying is acceptable?
• If you think bullying is acceptable, is there a point where it stops being acceptable (e.g. when it becomes international, when it results in a very tangible and tragic end, when it crosses multiple boundaries such as personal/ professional/ law)
• Irrespective of where you stand on bullying, if a legal requirement has been compromised then this should be processed accordingly.

When it comes to "who to blame", I guess this is an interesting argument:
I read an article where this segment was created at a team meeting and approved.
I also read that that this show was approved by the station before being aired.
So who do you "blame"?
The hosts who actually did the deed
The station for approving it all
Or both because everyone was involved?

Quick Comments

	mGGAequitas:	Alexander Graham Bell is to be blamed because he invented the first commercially successful phone, allowing the prank
	nirvAnA:	^ aequitas you stole maddox's joke lol!

[Zakattack]

Originally Posted by Delraich

I think there are a number of issues to consider in this case:

• It seems generally accepted that the nurse was publicly embarrassed/ humiliated at an international level as a result of this prank.
• It seems reasonable to assume that this embarrassment/ humiliation impacted the nurse on both professional (e.g. if she breached patient confidentiality, she may be worried about allegations of professional misconduct and the legal proceedings that go with that) and personal levels (being on the receiving end of international scale cyber bullying).
• There seems to be a reasonable argument that this prank was not legal/ breached Australian standards (e.g. consent was not obtained from the nurse prior to broadcasting; consent was not obtained to record the phone call).

When going through each point above, one would need to consider:

• Do you think that bullying is acceptable?
• If you think bullying is acceptable, is there a point where it stops being acceptable (e.g. when it becomes international, when it results in a very tangible and tragic end, when it crosses multiple boundaries such as personal/ professional/ law)
• Irrespective of where you stand on bullying, if a legal requirement has been compromised then this should be processed accordingly.

When it comes to "who to blame", I guess this is an interesting argument:
I read an article where this segment was created at a team meeting and approved.
I also read that that this show was approved by the station before being aired.
So who do you "blame"?
The hosts who actually did the deed
The station for approving it all
Or both because everyone was involved?

i do see your point bruv but at the same time the nurse is only human and we all make mistakes no need to take your own life in my eyes. but as for whos to blame maybe the hospital she workd for should have given better client confidentiality training???

[Cyanide]

Originally Posted by Delraich

Do you think that bullying is acceptable?

Bullying is a very strong term.
WikiQuoted: Bullying may be defined as the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another person, physically or mentally.
So no, it isn't bullying.

Originally Posted by Delraich

when it becomes international, when it results in a very tangible and tragic end, when it crosses multiple boundaries such as personal/ professional/ law)

All of which, didn't seem to be anticipated. Call made on Sydney radio station, prolly expected it to remain within Australian contexts? But in this day and age where information can spread like wildfire, people need to rethink media ethics (which is being reviewed at this point).

As for who is PARTLY responsible, everyone involved at the radio station is definitely culpable.
Once again though, I firmly believe that they were other circumstances that added to her distress.

Additionally, the hospital should be responsible for being so sloppy in its verification process as well. The second nurse didn't think twice to check?

Scotland Yard are NOT calling it a suicide. And until an inquest has been done and an official COD can be determined, we shouldn't be calling it a suicide either.

[eCKo`Tazerenix]

Sounds like a witchhunt for the sake of good news content to me.

If the nurse was in a state of mind where something such as this interview prompted her to commit suicide, then it wasn't the interview that caused her to commit suicide.

Quick Comments

Dox:

agreed, best post in the thread

[TABjornbrandr]

The death of the nurse is obviously a tragedy, though as stated countless times it does appear as though the prank was simply the tip of the iceberg and one would reasonably expect that there was more at play behind the scenes regarding the suicide.

The prank call itself, whilst a stupid thing to do, is about all you can expect from commercial radio. If the audience loves humour for the simple-minded, don't be surprised when that's what you get. Exactly the same as the Alan Jones situation (a lot of the non-Australians may be unaware of what occurred) - he's obviously a complete tool that has not much to say beyond the bilge he spouts day in and day out, but you can hardly just turn around and crucify the man for doing what he's always done.

Do keep in mind, however, that for some people in the UK, royal families are an extremely important figurehead for their respective regions and I would not be surprised if the nurse was under extreme pressure and judgement from her co-workers.

All-in-all, it's horrible that a life has been lost and regarding the DJs, the public backlash will be punishment enough for them. Finally, I'd like to echo the sentiment that the management should be the ones who cop flak for the fiasco - to place a lost life on the head of the two DJs is simply scapegoating.

[Delraich]

Originally Posted by Cyanide

Bullying is a very strong term.
WikiQuoted: Bullying may be defined as the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another person, physically or mentally.
So no, it isn't bullying.

I guess it depends on which definition of bullying you use. I found this one from a school website here in Australia:
"Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an individual or group towards one or more persons. Cyberbullying refers to bullying through information and communication technologies.

Bullying can involve humiliation, domination, intimidation, victimisation and all forms of harassment including that based on sex, race, disability, homosexuality or transgender. Bullying of any form or for any reason can have long-term effects on those involved including bystanders. Bullying can happen anywhere: at school, travelling to and from school, in sporting teams, between neighbours or in the workplace.

Bullying behaviour can be:
Verbal e.g. name calling, teasing, abuse, putdowns, sarcasm, insults, threats
Physical eg hitting, punching, kicking, scratching, tripping, spitting
Social e.g. ignoring, excluding, ostracising, alienating, making inappropriate gestures
Psychological e.g. spreading rumours, dirty looks, hiding or damaging possessions, malicious SMS and email messages, inappropriate use of camera phones.

Conflict or fights between equals and single incidents are not defined as bullying. Bullying behaviour is not: children not getting along well, a situation of mutual conflict, single episodes of nastiness or random acts of aggression or intimidation."

I think you have a good point about the testing the definition of bullying and whether the act of broadcasting the nurse's conversation constituted cyber bullying.

Regardless of intent, the broadcast resulted in:

• Humiliation of the nurse (in particular her professional competency due to disclosure of confidential patient information)
• Repeated use of the broadcast (a recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an Internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers.)
• Communicated/ distributed in a way that it could easily go global (plus it was an international prank involving international people/ celebrities).

I would argue the opposite and say that the repeated broadcasting of this embarrassing phone conversation could constitute cyber bullying. I guess time will tell because I have a feeling this issue isn't over yet.

[mGGAequitas]

keep in mind that the nurse who suicided was the first one, the one who simply forwarded the callers to the appropriate nurse. She only talked for a few seconds and wasn't the one who gave away any "personal information".
It is highly unlikely that this call had any impact at all in her decision to take her own life. The "news" just like creating bullshit out of the faintest of connections.
Next on channel 9: Is water bad for you? 100% of people who come into contact with water will eventually die!

Quick Comments

TADivinity:

She put the call through. It was her responsibility to block it. Still not reason enough for suicide.