Case study: Australia’s 2day radio station prank call

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What is the radio station going to do?

Due to the mounting pressure by individuals and organizations to close down the stations and fire the presenters, the station has decided that the djs will not air the show until further notice. The company decided to suspend all its advertisements until investigations about the tragedy are carried out (The Age. com.au, 2012). Rhys Holleran, Southern Cross Austereo CEO emphasized that their priority was to support the family and not judge whether the company should lose its broadcasting license or not (The Age. com.au, 2012).

What do you think they should do?

It is best that the company puts the two presenters out of limelight until things cool down. The presenters themselves should apologize to the public and the deceased person’s family. The presenters are definitely shocked by the experience and should be supported by the station and not criticized. However, the company should not try to portray the innocence of the presenters and itself before the heat reduces and conclusive investigations are conducted. The station should understand the reason why advertisers chose to suspend their commercials.

This event has become what we call, & quote; A Media Circus

Since the controversy, Many media houses in Australia and oversees have aired the story. Some include, Daily Mail, London Evening Standard, The Times, The Guardian, Daily Star, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent (The Age. com.au, 2012). Social networking sites like twitter and Facebook have been used to conduct opinion polls on the issue and seek public opinion over the matter.

If the radio station management does not take certain steps to make the situation better, the radio station might go out of business – what happened? What should they do now?

Advertisers who have suspended their commercials may retrieve them completely due to fear. There is need for the station to win back the trust of these advertisers lest the company stands to loses them. The station should also thrive to maintain its fun base intact by not justifying themselves. The station should also agree to any consequences bestowed upon them. A nice recovery effort would be to train its employee on ethics.

Are there media theories that apply (or should be applied) here? What mistakes were made?

The station broadcasted a private phone conversation without the participant’s acquaintance which is illegal according to ACMA Code of Conduct for Talkback and Interviews (Commercial Radio Australia Limited, 2011). The station abused person’s right to privacy by broadcasting Kate Middleton’s hospital detail on air. The nurse also violated the professional code of conduct by releasing private information of a patient’s condition though without consent this was a breach of professional ethics (Australian Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2008).

How people were hurt and then and what you think the Radio station SHOULD do in order to minimize the damage?

Kate Middleton was hurt by the exposure of her hospital detail to the public. Jacintha was hurt on realizing she had publicly denounced ethics. The family was hurt after the nurse committed suicide. The two djs who made the prank as well as the station were hurt and face the risk of being fired or losing the broadcasting license. The criticizers of the hoax call are also people hurt by the incidence. The hospital where the nurse worked suffered the loss of a qualified nurse. The radio station should support the victim’s family and publicly apologize.

Reference

The Age. com.au (2012) Global reaction after nurse who took prank call from Australian DJs found dead. Retrieved January 15th, 2013 from file:///C:/Users/Kirugi/Downloads/Prank%20call%20nurse%20found%20dead%20_%20Duchess%20of%20Cambridge%20Pregnancy.htmlAustralian Nursing & Midwifery Council (2008) code of professional conduct for nurses in Australia. Retrieved January 15th, 2013 from http://www.amsantmanual.com/proforma/hr/Code%20of%20Ethics%20for%20Nurses%202008.pdfCommercial Radio Australia Limited (2011) Codes of Practice & Guidelines. Retrieved January 15th, 2013 from http://www.acma.gov.au/webwr/aba/contentreg/codes/radio/documents/commercial_radio-codes_and_guidelines_5sept2011.pdf