Duchess of Cambridge hoax call nurse found dead

[chaseter]

Yeah killing yourself because you thought your ceremonial Queen and Prince was disappointed in you is a bit nutty.

 

[Hawkingbird]

I think the Radio Station was outrageous. Although they had no idea she would kill herself, surely they would know that if they were sucsesfull the nurse would inevitably get in trouble, and not to mention it is the Duchess's private life, they shouldn't have tried in the first place.
I saw an article reporting this isn't the first time they've been so horrifying. The same presenters forced a girl to admit being raped, live on radio.

 

[Lencho01]

http://news.msn.com/world/australian-djs-break-silence-over-uk-royal-prank-tragedy-4

After royal prank tragedy, Aussie DJ show canceled

33 min ago By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA, Australia — Two Australian radio announcers who made a prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate broke a three-day silence Monday to speak of their distress at the apparent suicide of the nurse who took their call. Their show, "Hot 30," has been terminated, the station's parent company, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), said in a statement Monday. SCA also announced a company-wide suspension of prank calls.

The 2DayFM Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, said the tragedy had left them "shattered, gutted, heartbroken."

Greig and fellow presenter and prank mastermind Christian have been in hiding since nurse Jacintha Saldanha's death and the subsequent social media outrage at their prank.

Greig told Australian television her first thought when told of Saldanha's death was for her family.

VIDEO: Australian announcers talk

"Unfortunately I remember that moment very well, because I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened," she said, amid tears and her voice quavering with emotion. "I remember my first question was 'was she a mother?'"

"I've wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry. I hope they're okay, I really do. I hope they get through this," said a black-clad Greig when asked about Saldanha's children, left grieving their mother's death with their father Ben Barboza.

Saldanha, 46, was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters.

A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers.

But news of Saldanha's death sparked the Internet firestorm, with vitriolic comments toward the DJs on Facebook and Twitter.

VIDEO: Australian, London police launch investigation

Christian said his only wish was that Saldanha's grief-stricken family received proper support.

"I hope that they get the love, the support, the care that they need, you know," said Christian, who like Greig struggled to talk about the tragedy.

Both Greig, 30, and Christian were relatively new to the station, with Greig joining in March and Christian having been in the job only a few days before the prank call after a career in regional radio.

Greig said she did not think their prank would work.

"We thought a hundred people before us would've tried it. We thought it was such a silly idea and the accents were terrible and not for a second did we expect to speak to Kate, let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on," she said.

Christian drew headlines only two weeks before the royal prank call by angering fellow passengers with a harmonica playing stunt aboard pop star Rihanna's private jet.

RELATED: UK hospital calls prank 'appalling'

The 2Day parent company Southern Cross Austereo has received more than 1,000 complaints from Australians over the actions of the popular presenters, who have both been taken off air during an broadcasting watchdog investigation.

Shares in SCA fell 5 percent on Monday after two major Australian companies pulled their advertising with the radio station in protest and other advertising was suspended.

The station said it had tried to contact hospital staff five times over the recordings.

"It is absolutely true to say that we actually did attempt to contact those people on multiple occasions," said SCA chief executive Rhys Holleran.

"No one could have reasonably foreseen what has happened. I can only say the prank call is not unusual around the world," he said.

The fallout from the radio stunt has brought back memories in Britain of the death of William's mother Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 and threatens to cast a pall over the birth of his and Kate's first child.

Australia's Communications Minister Stephen Conroy sought to deflect calls for more media regulation, telling journalists that a looming investigation by Australia's independent regulator should be allowed to happen without political interference.

 

[Duran Man]

It's a shame they lost their show.

 

[chaseter]

I like how that article compared a phone prank in which an obviously unstable, overly devoted person killed themselves because someone asked to speak to Kate pretending to be the Queen is just like paparazzi causing Diana's car to crash and kill her which will bring forth an age of darkness upon yet another royal child.

Nobody better ask if someone's refrigerator is running because people could kill themselves and you could go to jail if charges are brought upon you.

 

[Sawyer]

I think it's BS to completely put the blame of this woman's death on them, but based on some of the things I've heard about what they've done on their show in the past, I don't think taking the show away from them is unjustified.

 

[bullets]

It's a shame they lost their show.

They shouldn't of gotten fired.

 

[cherokeesam]

Why the hell shouldn't they have gotten fired/lost their show? Above and beyond the absolutely poor judgment and taste they showed with the asinine prank, they BROKE THE LAW, pure and simple. They committed phone/wire fraud, which is highly illegal. They impersonated royalty, which may or may not carry legal repercussions in the UK and Australia. They could easily be prosecuted for a breach in security surrounding, again, a major royal.

In the US, DJs have gotten fired and lost their careers over just saying a cuss word or expressing an unpopular opinion. What these two clueless yahoos did was flat out illegal. They not only need to lose their careers over this, but they need to spend some time in jail thinking about just how goddamn stupid they truly are.

 

[chaseter]

Do you have Prince Albert in a can?

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

They're not being fired for "fraud." Radio shock jocks have been making fraudulent phone calls for decades and none of them got fired for it (I immediately recall the guy who impersonated French President Sarkozy calling up Sarah Palin when she was the VP nominee). Let's be honest, they're being fired for the death of a woman who was obviously already suicidal. This is such faux moral outrage baloney. No one should be blamed for that nurse's death but the nurse herself.

 

[Spade]

You guys actually thought they were going to keep their show? They're in radio. Half the material is from callers. Every other call would've been about this. Remember "Hold your Wee for a Wii"? Two of the DJs involved had to move to Canada to get work, and the third dropped out of radio altogether. Greig and Christian might not face charges over this, but from now on, it's what they're known for.

 

[Hawkingbird]

I think it's completely right that they got fired.

 

[dude stannis]

It's a shame they lost their show.

They shouldn't of gotten fired.

Don't worry. 2Day FM is a bad radio station and they should feel bad.

 

[cherokeesam]

They're not being fired for "fraud." Radio shock jocks have been making fraudulent phone calls for decades and none of them got fired for it (I immediately recall the guy who impersonated French President Sarkozy calling up Sarah Palin when she was the VP nominee). Let's be honest, they're being fired for the death of a woman who was obviously already suicidal. This is such faux moral outrage baloney. No one should be blamed for that nurse's death but the nurse herself.

And where are you reading that? I've seen no news story whatsoever that said the nurse had any pre-existing mental, psychological or physical problems that would indicate she was suicidal: "Oh hell, she's unstable and is gonna off herself pretty soon anyway --- hey, let's put her in the Duchess of Cambridge's maternity ward, THAT would be a good place for her"

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

She committed suicide. Ergo she was suicidal. This isn't rocket science. Most people wouldn't have offed themselves over a prank call.

Furthermore in regards to your silly impression of the hiring process, not all suicidal people are so transparent. Many people in high-ranking jobs have killed themselves, with no one being aware of their problems until it was too late (eg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roh_Moo-hyun )

 

[Pink Ranger]

Was it right and just for the DJs to lose their jobs?

No, it wasn't.

But this whole situation has been error compounded by human tragedy. This is just one of those things that simply "has" to happen. The DJs will eventually get new jobs, and life will go on.

What I think the media is missing here is investigating if the hospital organization itself did more to drive this woman over the edge, due to any reprisals she may have experienced due to the prank call.

 

[cherokeesam]

She committed suicide. Ergo she was suicidal. This isn't rocket science. Most people wouldn't have offed themselves over a prank call.

Furthermore in regards to your silly impression of the hiring process, not all suicidal people are so transparent. Many people in high-ranking jobs have killed themselves, with no one being aware of their problems until it was too late (eg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roh_Moo-hyun )

"Suicidal" means someone with suicidal tendencies; i.e., someone who exhibits warning signs. You yourself said she was "already" suicidal, meaning you assumed there were already warning signs. So I'm asking you where you got that information from? Because I haven't seen that anywhere.

And no, she didn't "off herself over a prank call." That much is certain. She certainly *could* have "offed herself" over a prank call that led to severe disciplinary action taken by her employer, up to and including plans to fire her over the incident. She certainly *could* have "offed herself" over being publicly shamed and humiliated by a stupid stunt that went viral internationally --- a joke at nobody's expense but hers.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

So why don't you express your indignant moral outrage towards her employers at the hospital who sought to discipline her too severely over a dumb and essentially harmless prank call?!

No one kills him or herself over a phone-call unless they have serious mental health problems. If you can't overcome a stupid radio-prank then how would you ever deal with REAL problems like the death of a loved one? I can't believe we're even debating whether or not she was suicidal when the proof is in the pudding.

Finally have you actually listened to the call? She's barely in it. She transferred the call to Middleton's ward and then someone else took it. So it wasn't aimed at "no one's expense but her's." She should have laughed it off with the other staff for the ultimately dumb, forgettable prank it was, instead of all sides overreacting.

 

[Lasirius]

The majority of people who do commit suicide don't plan it overnight.