A media storm has been brewing following the prank call two Australian radio DJs made to the hospital where Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, was being treated.
The nurse who took the call has been found dead in an apparent suicide attempt.
The Australian 2Day FM radio DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, made the call during the week pretending to be the Queen and Prince Philip.
Can you guess what ‘prank’ means?
A prank is a trick which you play on someone else. It involves making the victim of the prank look silly, and it’s meant to be fun.
Word parnerships: play a prank on someone
They played a prank on their classmates.
People who play a prank on someone are called pranksters.
Here are some example Tweets of how the word is being used today:
Backlash in Australia over royal prank call aje.me/SVacFP
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 8, 2012
Mortified to hear the nurse who took the prank royal call from AUS DJ’s has committed suicide.
— Matt Evers (@TheMattEvers) December 8, 2012
King Edward VII hospital sends letter to Australian broadcasters condemning prank call and “humiliation” of nurses huff.to/11XndnB
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) December 8, 2012
I have never liked prank calls or TV show pranks. Making another person feel like an idiot is bullying and in no way entertainment. #2dayfm
— Iain Graham (@iainag) December 7, 2012
The world reacts
The media, and in particular the Twittersphere, has been full of discussion about this prank:
Was it innocent fun or should the radio station, 2Day Fm, and the DJs be held accountable in some way for the whole incident?
Leaving aside the fact that Princess Catherine is a member of the Royal Family, private information about a sick, pregnant woman was released publicly without her knowledge or consent.
What do you think should happen?
The other half
Half of Australia is full of lovely, warm, friendly and well-travelled people. Perhaps among of the most kind-hearted and decent people in the world.
The other half are exactly like Mel Craig and Michael Christian.
They have the minds of newly-born children, with little understanding that their actions can lead to consequences that other people don’t like.
For example, the same radio station a few years ago had a young girl, aged 14, on Kyle Sandilands’ programme. The girl was asked about her sexual activities, and then admitted on air to have been raped at the age of 12.
The community and the former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, were outraged by this, at how terribly a child was being treated by a major Sydney radio station.
The same 2Day FM DJ has also attacked a female journalist in the past, as the Guardian reports:
“You’re a bullshit artist, girl. You should be fired from your job. Your hair’s very ’90s. And your blouse. You haven’t got that much titty to be having that low cut a blouse. Watch your mouth or I’ll hunt you down.”
And yes, this moron still has his job.
Much more recently the current Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gilliard, fought back at Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for all the insults and barbs she had received for being a woman.
The list goes on.
At least the world is beginning to see the real Australia, the good and the bad.
Please leave your views below – or feel free to write on the 2Day FM Facebook Page
Robby says
Hi David,
A few days prior to this tragic event I spotted some articles while checking news online describing a really scary prank in Brazil where people were lead to believe ghosts were appearing inside of an elevator they were on.
A little ghost girl, a dead man coming out of a coffin – and it was all done obviously using holographic technology which made it really believable. Here’s the thing – had I been there in that elevator, there’s a good chance I would have had a heart attach because I’m very, very uncomfortable with anything that’s got to do with the supernatural.
And it made me wonder after reading those couple of articles – “How far can such pranks be pushed before something tragic happens?”
Now we have an answer. Unfortunately.
Regards,
Robby
David Sweetnam says
Hi Robby
Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, I saw that headline from Brazil too but didn’t watch the video, as I dreaded to watch it. Now I can see why.
This kind of humour is very much an Australian-British thing. From what I’ve seen of the Irish they too piss-take (for readers out there, this means to make fun of someone, to take the mickey out of someone), but from my experience they’ve done it with a nudge and a wink, like, “you’re in the joke with us, we’re all here to have fun”, whereas the Brits and Aussies have this element of putting you down.
Is that your experience?
Perhaps it’s part of the ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’, something which afflicts both nations (if you become too big for your boots = too successful, they’ll cut you down to the same size as everyone else).
Regarding these DJs, I don’t believe they had any malicious intent at all (that would require them to plan and actually think about it), but it really is quite representative of how Australians behave, or at least half the country.
I’ll be interested to see what others think of this. I gather the Americans will be much more aghast than Aussies and Brits, as ‘piss-taking’ isn’t really in their nature.
Thanks again for your comment,
David
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Francisco Javier says
That prank call should never have taken place. It only goes to show how irresponsible and insensitive some people can be. Of course, they didn’t expect such a dramatic outcome, but they were old enough to know that for some actions there may be dire consequences.
The same applies to the guys scaring people in a lift. Are they so dumb or callous not to realise that sooner or later somebody is going to have a heart attack?
Watch this space.
David Sweetnam says
Thanks, Francisco
Yeah, and tonight the DJs appeared on ‘A Current Affair’ – as poor a media outlet as 2Day FM, and now the photos of the DJ crying on air are circulating all over Australia and the UK. It reeks of publicity-seeking drama.
Out of respect for the family of the woman who committed suicide, they should have made a sombre announcement, apologising and then appealing for everyone to support the woman’s family
Am interested to hear what my students think, already chatted with a few but so far they haven’t commented here..
Martina says
Hi David,
My opinion is, that prank call like this it is not funny… It is impudence, definitely …
I also think, that the hospital should behave differently, they should support their nurse and tried to make some steps against the presenters.
Martina