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australian-djs-prank.jpg
Radio personalities Mel Greig and Michael Christian both say they are "so sorry" for the prank call that they never thought would go through to Prince William's pregnant wife Kate.(Photo courtesy 2DayFM radio)

Seattle radio personalities defend Australian DJ pranksters

December 10, 2012 @ 8:26 am (Updated: 2:41 pm - 12/10/12 )

We're "shattered, gutted, heartbroken."

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 and cried as they described how horrible they feel after the nurse who took their call committed suicide.

Radio personalities Mel Greig and Michael Christian both say they are "so sorry" for the call that they never thought would go through.

"It was designed to be stupid," Greig says in an interview with the Australian Current Affair TV show. "It was meant to be a silly little prank that so many people have done before."

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found dead Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to the DJs.

A recording of the call was broadcast by stations around the world, while newspapers printed a transcript of the call.

"Unfortunately I remember that moment very well, because I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened," Greig says, as she cried while being interviewed.

She says after hearing about the suicide, the first thing she wanted to know was whether the nurse was a "mum."

Saldanha had two children.

"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," Greig says. "I hope that they get the love, the support, the care that they need, you know."

This wasn't Christian's first stunt. A couple of weeks before the prank call, he angered fellow passengers with a harmonica playing stunt aboard pop star Rihanna's private jet.

Asked if he would do something like this again, Christian avoided a direct answer.

"I don't think anyone could have predicted what would have happened," he says. "It was just a tragic set of circumstances."

"There is nothing that could make me feel worse than I do right now," Greig adds, "We are so sorry."

The 2DayFM radio show's parent company has received thousands of complaints about the radio duo. They've both been taken off air. Their show was cancelled and an investigation is underway into the radio stunt.

Seattle morning radio host John Curley, with KIRO Radio, thinks taking the radio personalities off the air is the wrong move.

"By getting rid of them, the conversation doesn't continue and the issue is completely ignored," Curley says. "If you leave them on the air, it leaves the wound there and it allows the audience to experience their growth, we get a chance to see them become different people."

"The Australian DJs merely performed a staple of radio - one that has been outlawed here in the US. They meant no harm but there's a good reason why we have to ask permission before recording phone calls," says Arik Korman, director of The Bob Rivers Show on KJR FM. "The DJs should be suspended but not lose their jobs. They have learned an important life lesson."

Luke Burbank, with KIRO's late morning talk show Ross and Burbank, says he feels bad for the Australian DJs.

"We need to take a moment and realize there were probably other things going on in this nurse's life that we don't know about," Burbank says, "It's unfair to blame them [the DJs] for the death."

B.J. Shea agrees with Burbank. "It's a horrible tragedy for the family, but there had to be more going on that we don't know," says host of KISW's BJ Shea Morning Experience.

Shea points out FCC rules in the U.S. do not allow prank calling people without their prior knowledge.

He adds that ratings success or failure is the "ultimate resolution" for any radio show.

Dori Monson doesn't believe Saldanha's role in the call was the sole reason she chose to commit suicide. He thinks it's unfair the show was canceled.

"I think it's outrageous the way their company has handled this," says Monson. "They recorded the call. They didn't do it live on the air. Their attorneys for the radio station listened to the call and they pre-approved it running on the air."

I'm not surprised Seattle personalities would support their Australian peers, but I disagree with my radio friends.

I didn't snicker along with some of the above radio personalities who played the prank call to Kate's room repeatedly on their talk shows. I think it was appropriate to fire the DJs for the stunt, if nothing else so it'll send a message to other wacky radio people that their actions have consequences.

We can't know what was going on in the mind of the nurse who killed herself, but that's the reality we face every day when we turn our microphones on.

We never know how our words will impact others, so raise the bar guys and stop thinking humor at someone's expense is entertaining.

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (34)


  • Add A Comment

  • JMGilday wrote...
    Welcome to our new game show !
    December 10, 2012 3:18 pm
    DRUNK OR DJ ?

    Where you have to correctly guess who said the following phrases - uttered either by a drunk driver that killed a family of three or a DJ that put a nurse in such a horrible position she saw no way out but death by her own hand.

    So lets play our game, shall we?

    Drunk or DJ?

    "I was only having fun"

    "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt"

    "My heart goes out to the family"

    "If I could take it back I would"

    "I couldn't feel more horrible"

    "There was no way to see this happening"

    "This will haunt me the rest of my life"

    Feel free to play along at home - there are no winners here.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Shplunker wrote...
    another
    December 10, 2012 4:30 pm
    idiot. Comparing a drunk driver and a harmless prank is absurd. You can make any type of comparison you want, and there's no way you'll make 99% of us out here believe that it was the DJ's fault some imbalanced person committed suicide over something like this.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    Once again, ther is no actual demonstrated connection between the prank call and the suicide.
    December 10, 2012 4:54 pm
    Coincidence happens.

    She may have been planning suicide for some time. Taking one's own life if hardly ever a snap decision.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Ron, it's the emotionally vulnerable who are most likely....
    December 10, 2012 6:43 pm
    to be pushed over the brink by this kind of prank.

    So according to you, it's not the fault of the pranksters for pushing her over the brink, it's the fault of the dead woman for being emotionally vulnerable to begin with?

    So, let's say that for a prank I put a bunch of grease on the sidewalk. 25 young and relatively healthy people come along and slip and fall. They all get up, laugh at their own klutziness, and then go on with life. Along comes the 26th person, who is in very frail health. That person slips in the grease, and dies as a result of the fall. Are you then insisting it is the fault of the 26th victim for being in generally poor physical condition, rather than my fault for creating a situation that would be hazardous to somebody with compromised health? Physical health, emotional health...not much difference.

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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Chuck - SHOW THE STATEMENT (or news article)
    December 11, 2012 3:11 am
    that she was even aware of her (very small) part in this prank? ..... 3 seconds, 5 words or so ?? .......... And YOU seem to be the only source that 'everyone (in England) knew her name' and was mad at her.

    You're really going out of your way to defend your original position. And your 'examples' of slap-stick are not the same as this joke. ... Might be more akin to a neighbor killing himself because I just painted my house yellow. ..... OR, reading one of your posts.

    After all, if poor Shplunker disappears, I'm holding YOU responsible

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • JMGilday wrote...
    say what you wish
    December 10, 2012 6:42 pm
    she's not here to refute it
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • marinamom1 wrote...
    A medical professional's perspective
    December 10, 2012 8:43 pm
    To all the previous commenters who have chosen to view this through their own polarized lens. I am disheartened by the narrow views and second guessing of this tragic incident. Hindsight is 20/20. The lack of compassion and understanding shown by many comments for the nurse, patients and family is shocking! Please look into your hearts. Employ empathy by placing yourself in nurse, patient and family's shoes. Nurses are intelligent, highly educated dedicated people who try their best to render good care and advocate for their patients. Most hold themselves to a very high standard. It is the nature of a dedicated professional to show sensitivity and compassion for patents and family. The profession is physically and emotionally demanding. The public humiliation had a heavy impact on her professional standards. 1.The D.J.'s did not receive clearance from their employer to perform this ill conceived prank. 2. It was abysmally poor judgement to do this. 3. The call was made at 5:30AM ! 4.They misrepresented themselves and violated patient privacy and medical confidentiality (not to mention human decency). 5. When patient information was given through misrepresentation, the D.J.'s could have aborted the prank if they a conscience and human decency. It would be wrong to do this to anyone. This was no ordinary patient. Kate Middleton was hospitalized for a serious condition dangerous to herself and her unborn child. This is a stressful pregnancy. The hospital will need to review their policies and implement tighter screening and restrictions for release of information. Debriefing of staff and urgent supportive counseling of staff should be standard.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Wilma Fingerdo wrote...
    medical professional
    December 11, 2012 9:51 am
    >Nurses are intelligent, highly educated dedicated people Really? This one wasn't. At 4:30 AM, she took a call from someone who said "Could I speak to Kate please, my grand daughter." The nurse's response, "Yes, just hold on one moment" and she put the call through. Never once did she use any of that education or training to ask the name of the person on the line, verify if it REALLY was the Queen, or possibly question why in the H E L L the Queen would be calling on an unsecured line asking to speak to her "grand daughter" at 4:30 in the frickin' morning! Not only does this demonstrate a lack of training, it clearly shows she doesn't even have any common sense! It's not like the media (tabloids and legitimate press) have ever hounded members of the Royal family for information, right? Why would this higly educated, intelligent woman even considering asking "Who is this" before sending the call through? If she does her job with THAT amount of education and intelligence...if she can't get the answering the phone part right, God forbid she be allowed to do the tricky stuff. Ya know: which pills go with which patient, how many was I supposed to give this guy, did I already use this needle. Ya know...the good stuff that separates medical professionals from the rest of us.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • awbitf wrote...
    All this uproar for a prank
    December 10, 2012 9:40 pm
    but the whole phone/voice-mail hacking by Rupert Murdoch's tabloids is still pending.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Troll Hunter wrote...
    prank- a mischievous trick or practical joke
    December 11, 2012 1:24 am
    If any one of us decides to pull a prank on someone, we must be willing to accept responsibility for anything negative that may arise from it. To say these DJ's shouldn't be held responsible is completely ludacris. They are not alone in the responsibility, the lawyers who approved the airing need to be held responsible as well. The problem with so many pranksters is that they only want to take responsibility for their behavior and actions when the response is positive. When it is negative they immediately try to place the blame on the victim; usually with the famous "can't you take a joke?"
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Mako wrote...
    Linda
    December 11, 2012 6:22 am
    Watch it Linda or you will be Dori's next show "lead of the hour" where you will be called a moron or an idiot for the next three hours. And THEN with so many listeners D-mailing him that you should be fired maybe the listeners should call in and be the judge--and it goes on and on.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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