Media killed the Radio Star.

The big news story of the last week is how 2 young DJ's made a hoax call to a hospital where Princess Kate was staying and how a few days later, a nurse committed suicide as a result.

This has been playing on my mind quite a fair bit in the last few days. Firstly, the whole radio station is vile, which in turn attracts ratings and encourages more vile behaviour. In my opinion, this isn't the worst stunt the station has pulled (even though it produced the worst result). A few years ago, one of the morning presenters put a 15 year old onto a lie detector machine while her mother quizzed her on her sexual history, knowing full well that the poor kid was raped when she was 12. Inexcusable by the mother and inexcusable for the station allowing it.

I honestly believe the prank was a couple of kids trying to have some fun. The prank itself was way over the top that it was beyond believable for most. It could have been much worse - they could have asked the gender of the baby, if there was a chance of twins, etc, but none of these were asked, instead the "Queen" fed her corgis. At the time I had a work discussion about it with my team leader, he believed that the hospital staff would have lost their jobs and the prank was way out of line.

I think the prank highlighted issues with the hospitals processes which they now need to address. In a perverse way, the suicide a few days later has helped the hospital and the worldwide media focus on the presenters and the prank. I wonder what pressure the hospital put on the nurse in her final days. What counseling did they offer? I'm not condoning the prank, but think the hospital is getting off lightly from media scrutiny. Also, what was the mental state of the nurse? It's safe to assume something must not have been right for her to take a radical step.

I also think Anonymous is out of line. What right do they have to demand these kids resignation? If they have broken the law, I have enough faith in the legal system that it will be dealt with. I also have faith that they are being punished enough with suspensions and the guilt of a lost life. Regardless, I'm sure their reputations have taken a severe hit and their future radio job prospects are now limited. Its amazing how this one mistake has blown up internationally yet all their other stunts went unnoticed.

As I said earlier, I have a strong dislike for this station and think the prank was in bad taste, but I think the hosts needs a bit of slack cut.