Scapegoat watch: Australian DJ edition

After viewing the promo pages (now taken down) of those now-infamous Australian DJ’s who played a practical joke on a hapless British nurse who subsequently killed herself, they look like just the kind of people I like to despise: pseudo-creative types who are forever demonstrating their iconoclastic individualism with ‘out-on-the-edge’ rebellious behaviour. In reality, they are marginally talented, fashion conscious sheep whose best effort is to merely be a copy of a copy of a copy of Howard Stern: annoying but generally harmless cookie-cutter pests who our society produces too much of these days.

Having said that, they deserve very little of the bile now being directed at them by the public at large. No reasonable person would conclude that duping a hospital functionary

into giving out confidential but harmless medical information by pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles would result in that person’s suicide. It would be reasonable to assume that she would be reprimanded, but not that she would take her own life.

For this reason, I assume that there was something else going on in the nurse’s life; perhaps she was taking medication with unpleasant psychological side effects, or she had some deep personal problems that her co-workers are scarcely aware of. 

Unfortunately, the public dismisses such inconvenient details because it gets in the way of the natural human urge to find a scapegoat. However, natural or not, such desire indicates the uncharitable, hypocritical and vicious side of human nature.

The public’s reaction is ugly because the life of the nurse is not the only issue here. The careers of these Australian DJ’s also matter. It is safe to say that those are now completely over. While I am not averse to seeing them punished, I don’t think their intentions were malicious enough to justify destroy their careers. Remember, being shocking is what they were being paid to do, it is what their listeners expected from them, it is why they used to be popular, which is why the public condemnation now is so hypocritical. Telephone stunts have been the staple of shock jocks for years. On Toronto radio, I have listened to many such pranks, some more inspired than others, and all of these DJ’s have been celebrated and rewarded because of them.

But to me, what is worse than the unfair treatment those DJ’s are getting, is the idea being expressed by the public that people are so fragile that they can’t handle a bad joke. How did we in the West get so far that we consider our people to be so delicate that we believe pranksters should consider suicide to be a possible outcome of a crank call? In the old days, friends of the nurse would have admonished her to 'buck up' when they saw she was distraught by the incident.

Life isn’t fair and life isn’t always pleasant and safe, but that is not a reason to lower the speed limit to 20 miles and hour and mandate 10 feet of Styrofoam around every car. We should instead be inculcating a stiff-upper-lip stoicism in our citizenry.

Personally I am tired of shock jocks and their lame, unoriginal, obnoxious behaviour, but I am also afraid of the howling mob, demanding a sacrifice every time something bad happens, and am suspicious of nanny staters, who are always on the look-out for more reasons to ‘protect’ us. 

Comments

[Nicola T.]

I agree. We even had the leadership of a political party in Quebec influenced since 'Infoman' decided to take out a party membership and vote in the now defunct (merged with Legault's new party) A.D.Q. The leadership contest was lost by one vote.

The other people I can't stand are the ones who throw pies in public figures faces (usually those on the right) and think this is so funny.

[MadTrucker]

There is definitely more to this story than meets the eye, the reason being that the nurse who killed herself wasn't the one who was actually pranked. She merely answered the phone and then redirected the call to another nurse who was the prank victim. There had to have been deeper, hidden personal issues in play here.

[john]

---"But to me, what is worse than the unfair treatment those DJ’s are getting,"
------------
I agree with your opinion that the nurse should not have been so fragile and should have "bucked up".

This is true.

But really I do not think in any way that the DJs are being unfairly treated. If anything they should be treated more harshly.

You are right. Life isn't fair.

But if it isn't fair to a an innocent nurse who hasn't done anything to anyone why should it be *MORE* fair to a couple of snotty smart asses at a radio station who think that every absurd B.S. syllable out of their mouths is a comedic gem?

The "mob" (as you call them) who are attacking these two are quite right to show thier disgust and outrage.

Nothing else seems to get these dicks attention. So maybe a healthy dose of "mob justice" is just the ticket.

Maybe some good old fashioned shaming will knock some sense into these asshole's heads. Lord knows nothing ELSE has apparently done so.

Or perhaps we should let slimy lawyers, pompous pontifcating judges, sleazy public relations people and air headed counsellors handle it so the blame can be spread far & wide & thin enough that it becomes lost.

I am sick to death of these dick head media people reaching ever further down into the shit heap for their precious fame.

Screw those two. They can go on TV & blubber (while the cameras are rolling) all they want. No matter how much they suffer they still won't be sufferring as much as the family of the nurse.

[john]

I would also like to say I like your blog a lot and 99% of the time I agree with you but this one we are far apart on.

Please, for those who also might be thinking that the poooooor litle DJs are getting to rough a time, ask yourself this question:What
if the nurse had committed suicide (or simply died) in such a manner that no one knew it was connected to the radio show? (example - she leaves no suicide note but deliberately drives her car into a passing train).

In other words if she died without people being able to connect the DJs to her death do you still think the DJs would give a damn?

Of course they wouldn't.

There would be no tears shed (right on cue) for the cameras for this woman. Zip nothing.

You dismiss their guilt by pointing out that they are PAID to do these things and their "customers" (the listening public) expect it of them.

Not much of a defence.

Drug dealers, hookers, loan sharks and pornographers get paid for what they do and are eagerly supported by their customers, does this make what they do ok?

These skeezs deserve all thy get and more.

[john]

We still don't even know if she did "take her own life". Cause of death has not been determined yet.

As to the msm pointing fingers at the djs well isn't that cute. No honor among thieves now a days is there?