This is a comment by JM on the post “The Suicide of Kate Middleton’s Nurse – Should We Bully the Bullies?“
JM said:
“As someone whose entire professional career (over 25 years) has been as a radio announcer I can tell you that you have not factored in a major component. One that has been overlooked in every analysis I’ve read … that being: these two people are supposed to be professional broadcasters. Whether or not they’re supposed to ‘push boundaries’ or ‘be funny’ or whatever you want to try and say as a way to excuse their behavior—they’re supposed to know what is ‘too much’. They’re supposed to know what the law allows, what society would allow, what common sense and good judgement allow. A real broadcaster would know how to make that call (if it was necessary—my God, how have we not progressed beyond prank calls like this?) and not violate someone’s privacy and not make someone feel they’ve made a fatal mistake. Yes, they AND the producers should lose their jobs. They were clearly not equipped to have them in the first place.
“There is a point clearly lacking from what the author was making a point about: empathy. By all accounts Jacintha was a woman who was exceptional at her job and deeply caring. For a person of integrity an incident like this could have been unbearable. She may have felt like she *literally* could not live with herself. It’s ridiculous to imagine that what happened did NOT have to do with her death.
“Lastly, comparing broadcasters with comedians is really comparing apples and oranges. I understand the point you’re trying to make Joanna – but broadcasting is governed in ways that comedy is not. And that’s because it is literally ‘broad casting’ … anyone could happen across it (an unintended audience) and that’s why there are protections. When one goes to a comedy club, it’s really ‘no holds barred’. It’s a limited audience, it’s a mature audience.
“I do think Twitter and FB allow people to react too quickly and in too permanent a fashion. But, sadly, we live in a world now that’s just one big raw nerve, one giant knee-jerk reaction waiting to happen. ALL of this is really just a lack of self-control.”
Photo credit: Flickr / MDGovPics
Jacintha passed the call to someone else. To consider that a transgression worth killing oneself for seems hard to conceive. She didn’t give out private information.
IMO, she had a lot going on and this particular issue may not have been in the top ten.
It’s ridiculous to imagine that what happened did NOT have to do with her death. What you were saying was valid until you went into the “I know cos I have Crystal Balls” Territory. The old After – Therefore – Because of fallacy “Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc” – it’s been about so long as an error in human thinking …. the ancient Greek gets used to describe it. She died Ergo It had to be caused by what came before? People love to jump to conclusions and have knees jerking! Is it some kind of Cyber Hip Hop Craze… Read more »