I am also wondering if Indian Culture might have something to do with embarrassing family etc. that would make a woman do this?

It is my belief that if the prank call contributed to the woman's choice to end her life it was as a final straw not the primary cause.  But your note that their may be a cultural component bears some thought as well.

However I seem to remember that often people who make that choice make it soem time before they actually put their plan into action, that the sudden impulsive suicide (such as George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life) is more the exception than the rule.  Unfortunately other people are often only aware of the last event in the string and so blame it on that....

I suspect she was simply depressed. No need to go much deeper than that. Having something like this happen was likely just another straw on the camel's back, may not even have been the one that broke it. Doubt that her culture actually had much to do with it and we can't know without know more about her case and what other factors contributed.

Like you, I don't really fault the DJs. They've apologized quite sincerely for the prank and expressed remorse that it might have contributed to her death and that should be the end of it.

As for the culture that encourages behaviour like this prank, I'm not sure that anyone can stop it other than those who consume it. If there's no market for gossip about the royals, then the media will stop gossiping about them. The government coming down hard on the press isn't the answer. A free press is too important to lose simply because of irresponsible behaviour by some involved in it.

Mendalla

I agree, that something more than the phone call must have been involved.  She was barely even on the air, maybe there's 2 seconds of her speaking.

As for the DJs, I don't think they are innocent, but they are not to blame for the nurse's death.  I don't know what the particular hospital is like, but I think wasting healthcare worker's time is a bad idea.  Also, they should not have aired the information, the second the nurse started giving out private information, they should have gone off-air.  They could have always editted the clip after the fact and played some of it.  Here, it's my understanding such a prank is not allowed by the CRTC, as you need permission before broadcasting something like a phonecall.  I think most pranks here are broadcast after the fact.

I do hope Kate can at least achieve some privacy during the pregnancy, especially since she is dealing with being ill.

I'm puzzled by some of it tho. Here it is uncommon for a nurse to answer the phone. You would go through switchboard- and then go to the unit.

Why was a nurse answering the phone in the first place?

indeed

Hi crazyheart,

Everytime you intend to play a practical joke you take a chance that it will not blow up in anybody's face.

This time it blew up, a woman is dead and the jokers are left holding the bag and taking the blame.

Did the couple intend on this outcome?  They didn't.

Is suicide a reasonable option after being the weak link in a security chain?  It is not.

Is this, all things considered, the end of the world?  Well, yes, for one family it is.  For them this will never be a joke where they will sit around later and laugh about.  To be fair, I'll bet the DJ's never look back on this joke later and laugh about it.

This is a tragedy.

Not only does it end with the death of a Nurse (whom I suspect was a ticking time-bomb the response appears way out of proportion to whatever offence she might be held responsible for) it has probably destroyed the careers of these DJs.  Two children are without their mother.  A loving husband is without his wife.  A radio station is flooded with complaints and advertisers have cancelled.

Things done cannot now be undone.

Reaction is what it is

Reaction is bound to get worse.  At present the Radio Station is claiming that they tried to contact the Hospital to inform them of the prank and the Hospital denies that they were warned before hand.  The DJ's themselves have denied responsibility saying it was somebody else's decision to air the prank call.  Which makes their apology seem somewhat shallow.

A week ago they were basking in the adulation of having pulled off a terrific stunt.  Quite the coup and they did not back away from the glory.

This week it turns out that the consequences from the prank are shockingly high and they don't want to pay the price the glory costs.

And of course they won't ever have to pay it in full will they?

Meanwhile, a woman is still dead.

And there is nobody to take responsibility.

Do they deserve the animosity and hostility they are facing?  About as much as two children deserved to lose their mother.

Life isn't fair sometimes and this is one time where it is tragically unfair.

Grace and peace to you.

John

I believe that the switchboard did take the call and transferred it to the floor once they heard who it alleged to be. Don't have a cite handy for this, though.

Mendalla

Sometimes the most innocent prank goes horribly wrong.  Every action has a consequence - some good, some bad.  I listened to the recording and was rather disgusted by the comments and attitudes of the two DJ's.  I'm glad they have come forward and apologized.  This sad outcome will be on their consciences for a long time.

Now it seems everyone is trying to lay the blame for the consequences on everyone else, including the victim who is being judged to be unstable.  For this poor woman, realizing she played a part in betraying the privacy of the Queen's family must have been devastating.

Hopefully lessons will be learned from this unfortunate incident and William and Kate will be afforded the privacy they deserve as they await the birth of their first child.   

I've always carried a phone and phone calls are directly transferred to the charge nurse.

So the DJs wasted the time of 3 people and not just the 2 that we heard?

I would imagine that in addition to what has been said, this is a private hospital. I would imagine there is a higher standard on some levels, and that there would be some prestige to be a nurse there. There is also the nursing pride and code of ethics. I imagine the nurse would have felt a deep sense of shame for having let the hospital and her patients down. I'm sure that was a factor in her decision, but of course, we will never know that.

I think it's  a tragedy for all concerned.......

It's a tragedy firstly that the nurse was so overwhelmed emotionally that she saw no other course of action but to end her life.

I don't have much time for a blaming culture. This nurse may have had depression - but that surely is  at best an explanation.

As someone who has battled a depressive illness for most of my adult life it's upsetting to see an illness as the "reason" - it hints at blaming the victim.

Self loathing and guilt is often a dominant feature in a depressive episode. Rather than seeing depression as the vehicle for blame - just use your empathy and imagine how devastating it was for this woman to receive such unwanted public attention and derision.

I also feel empathy for the DJ's. You play a silly (not very well done) prank that results in a woman's death. I just hope that they're emotionally strong as they will have to live with the unintentional consequences of their actions.

I feel for the nurse's family and friends -who will also live with the consequences, perhaps for the rest of their lives.

Even if you were going to go down the blame trail, isn't it too simplistic to look for one culprit?

Think of the huge chain of events that led to this tragedy - and the many people involved. Was the nurse initially rebuked harshly by the hospital senior staff? If so, how must they be feeling now?

I often think that, to avoid facing our part in any drama we find it "easier" to deflect our feelings of guilt onto another party.

It's a human tragedy.  Simple as.

One I hope lessons can be learnt from.

I do think that, at least indirectly, cultural differences between English speaking countries play their part.

To the Aussie DJ's (and the English themselves) the imitation of the Queen was easy to dismiss as clearly not the Queen.

Perhaps - and this is just conjecture  - as the nurse was Indian, the accent may have sounded genuine?

Some cultures cope with humiliation better than others.

In Australia you have to be able to joke about everything - including yourself. Joking, teasing is very much a part of how Aussies relate to one another. Just so long as you let the person know that you like him/her you can say anything at all to them. "You know I like you mate, but you're a bloody hopeless driver."

Aussies also are very impulsive - we don't give much thought to consequences..

The reason I was so struck with Canadian public politeness was because Aussies don't pay so much credence as Canadians do to manners.  I'm also struck here on Wondercafe how Canadians are fond of taking the moral high ground - there's no shortage of "calling folks out". But, perhaps that's because we Aussies grew up in a former penal colony and don't feel comfortable about asserting our morality?

(In this, it's not surprising I found my way to a Canadian site - as here in Oz  I'm often "accused" of taking the moral high ground. (it's a thinly veiled criticism!) 

One of the most fascinating aspects of travel is you learn just how much your culture impacts on your views and opinions. The advantage of travel is that it confronts you with a different way of seeing life - and, at it's best, it confronts you with the fact that so much of what we think has a cultural component  and thus leads to tolerance of difference.......

Pilgrim, if someone dies of a heart attack after shovelling snow, we call out the medical condition that killed them, and sometimes the activity secondarily.

I think the same should be done for mental illess, it is a move to removing the stigma.  In this situation I'm not labelling it as I do not know.  A healthy person without a underlying condition doesn't die from shovelling snow.  A healthy person without other stressors doesn't kill themselves after being on the radio for transferring a prank call.

Pilgrim, I am curious about what radio stations are typically like Down Under.

This one seems to have a history of 'pranks' which go way beyond bad taste IMO.  I do listen to some that can be crude, and have contests that may be harmful to the participants (with medical staff onhand), but they don't stoop to the levels that the one from this prank has.  Is that typical of radio stations there, or is this one at the bottom of the barrel?

I agree with Chemgal that this particular radio station "2Day' has a history of cruel, exploitative pranks and also inappropriate comments about women. 2Day has been in trouble with media regulators before, and 2day has also lost major sponsors over comments they've made on the air. So it seems to me that the radio station is far more at fault than the DJ's. The station has been tacitly condoning and encouraging this behaviour for years.

One of my classes has been following the story. They thought this prank was hilarious at first. Then the next day we heard about the suicide. I talked to them about impact vs intent. The Aussie DJ's may have intended to be funny, and drum up some publicity for 2Day. They never intended for the nurse to feel so violated, shamed, and dishonoured that she would commit suicide. But their intentions don't lessen the impact of what they've done. Whatever the DJ's intentions, they need to be responsible for the impact of what they've done.

I talked to my students about how they might do their own pranks, and they may have the intention to be funny. But what they intend is different from the impact their prank may have. They will be accountable for the impact of their actions. And I tried to reinforce to these teens that before they do or say something, they need to consider the impact on the other party rather than their own intentions.

And lastly, this tragedy shows how big a role social media plays. The prank call wasn't just heard by a select Australian audience, it was replayed many times and posted on sites for the whole world to hear. Thousands of tweets praising the DJ's, and then after the suicide there were thousands of death threats to the DJ's.

This situation might have turned out differently if it only involved the DJ's, the nurse, and the radio station and hospital. But when the whole world throws their two cents in as well, I'm not so sure this technology has made our lives better.

Chemgal,

Our radio stations differ -as do their listeners.......

Aussies tend to be direct, honest and upfront about their true feelings. Culturally, this is what's noticed about us.

This inevitably means that those that are racist, homophobic, misogynist will find a radio station that is only too willing to reinforce their prejudices.......

On the other hand there are many, many Aussies that live and speak with empathy and compassion.

The advantage of living in an open society is you know where you stand. You know who to befriend, who to avoid.

(To be honest I had this niggling feeling whilst in Canada - "is this what x really means, or are they just being polite?")

The same goes for crudity - those that are crude will be crude...........

Chemgal, if you ever get the opportunity to travel I'd suggest you'd feel more comfortable in New Zealand. Both Canada and New Zealand had a strong Scottish Presbyterian presence, whilst Australia  and the USA were equally influenced by the Irish. 

Re the role social media plays - which of course is yet another contributor to the tragedy.

This was sent to me by an Aussie friend who is a minister - and it emphasises the importance of reading wider than the mainstream media.

http://overland.org.au/blogs/left-flank/2012/12/prank-calls-the-media-and-the-politics-of-class-humiliation/

Pilgrim, I took a look at the link.  It's an interesting take on it, I feel that's how some of the pranks are done here, but not all.

As for Australia vs. New Zealand I would choose New Zealand just to avoid some of the scary creepy crawlies!  lol Maybe some of the Aussie attitudes also come from being hardened after years of checking inside their shoes!  :)

Ah chemgal, it's our creepy crawlies that provide us with our best laughs.....

True story........

One of our tv newsreaders meant to say, "The woman was bitten on the finger by a funnel web spider" .

Instead, he said, "The wpman was bitten on the funnel by a finger web spider."

(As I recall, it provided much mirth around the office coffee machine.)

Now I'm trying to figure out what part a funnel is to you Aussies!  lol

I'd tell you, but it might shock you - because we both know that Canucks are always polite..........

Is it related to a fanny?  I understand our definition and the Aussie one are slightly different for that one!

Slightly???

Very different -  who gives birth via their butt?

Aussies interpreted the newsreader as meaning "funnel" as the same as Aussie "fanny".

(If you haven't got it now - just check to see your pilot light is switched on.)

Many years ago now, when I was in what was then the USSR, the intourist guide told me that Aussie tourists were the most difficult to understand for Russian English interpreters - as we use more slang in our everyday language - and, if we can shorten a word , we will. 

We eat "brekkie" - never breakfast......

I haven't gone back to read the whole thread but I believe this news is new. I haven't heard it before.