A couple of Australian radio DJs are the subject of the latest social media lynch mob. And it is a lynch mob, a lynch mob every bit as voracious as that which pursued Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand just over four years ago and which absolutely undoubtedly changed the radio – and wider media – landscape for the worse.
Broadcasters now live in an atmosphere of fear. Programme makers are stifled – look at Armando Iannucci’s recent comments about the new series of Mid Morning Matters. Where once British comedy was regarded amongst the best in the world, audiences are increasingly being fed a diet of US-made shows, with broadcasters afraid to take a risk.
Radio has changed too, as a result of that incident and others. The magic, the theatre of radio is rapidly diminishing. Once upon a time if you could fool someone in to thinking your voicetracked show was live you’d be held up as a shining example of your craft. These days you’d be more likely to be hung from the nearest yard-arm, accused of exploiting and misleading your poor impressionable audience.
Greig and Christian are Australia’s Brand/Ross. The mob demands blood, and they have had it – the two have been taken off air and I would be extremely surprised if they were to return. But even that’s not enough – one commenter on the Internet said he hoped the pair “never work again”. “Blood on their hands!” is the cry.
But let’s look at this objectively. It is easy for the mob to look back with 20/20 hindsight. Steve Penk's show once wound up Tony Blair. Applying the same rules, he should be vilified too – after all, what of the poor switchboard operator in Number 10 who put Penk through – clearly an enormous breach of national security. Fortunately, nothing subsequently came of the incident – so that’s OK then.
What too of Brian Flynn, the Sun reporter who sneaked a fake bomb in to London City Airport? Again, a similar exercise in duping the gatekeepers, who again may well have come under intense pressure and faced extreme embarrassment as a result. But Flynn exposed flaws in airport security and ultimately helped keep us all safer.
What if, rather than two wacky breakfast DJs, the Kate stunt had instead been pulled by an investigative journalist? This was a hospital, after all, which was favoured by the Royals precisely because of the supposed privacy it offers. “The thing about this hospital is, they never talk,” boasted one Royal correspondent shortly after the Duchess had been admitted. Well, it would appear that anyone who really wanted to get confidential information didn’t have to try too hard after all. That’s a legitimate concern.
I won’t even mention Steve Penk (again) playing Van Halen’s Jump in what some might consider an inappropriate situation.
I used to listen to Penk’s wind-ups. They were funny, when I were a lad. My mate had the tapes. He thought they were funny.
Of course, we fell within the sort of audience that Capital was trying to attract. My parents probably wouldn’t have found them quite so hilarious. A bit like the majority of the people who complained a about Ross and Brand. Not in the target audience.
I can see the kneejerk reaction to Greig and Christian’s incident already, and it’s a blanket ban on wind-up calls, whether from the regulator itself or from broadcasters fearful of public anger. Is that fair and proportionate? Does it accurately reflect the attitude and approach of the vast majority of broadcasters? Of course not.
This story has an achingly tragic end. That is indisputable, and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Jacintha Saldanha. But my heart also goes out to Greig and Christian. How on earth must they be feeling at this moment? The call itself may not have been funny, but it was clear to me that it was made with the very best of intentions and certainly not in malice (unlike, arguably, Flynn’s expose of airport security). No-one, but no-one could have foreseen the tragic events that followed and anyone who says otherwise is a bald-faced liar. Above all, we must not let our industry be suffocated further by the demands of the mob, whipped up by a few self-righteous figures.
I can only hope that Greig and Christian get the support they undoubtedly deserve at what must be an impossibly difficult time for them. They will have to live with the events of this week for ever.
The mob says Greig and Christian have blood on their hands. I sincerely hope the mob doesn’t end up the same way.
Prank calls: the angry mob
We must not let our industry be suffocated further by the demands of the mob, whipped up by a few self-righteous figures.
Simon is a UK-based radio presenter, producer and journalist.
Visit Simon Kelsey's website
16 comments
Art Grainger posted on Sunday 9th December 2012 at 22:36
I would rather hope that they don’t work again. If doing prank calls is the epitomy of their broadcasting talent, then they’re moving towards being talentless and not worthy of the job.
Prank calls are entertainment for human vegetables, really … and I have also seen interviews of some presenters who (still) take pride in doing / having done prank calls. Yes, quite … they must find it fun to be masturbating over having humiliated someone for a brief moment to boost their ego and kid themselves on that it’s the best in the business of broadcasting to the public. I heard Penk’s wind-up call to Tony Blair. It was cringeworthy – not funny at all – and like me, I’m sure that Tony Blair would probably thought what a strangle little man he was.
Simon Kelsey posted on Sunday 9th December 2012 at 23:59
The point is not really whether prank calls are good radio or not (for what it’s worth, I don’t think this was a particularly outstanding piece of comedy broadcasting – I personally found the journalistic angle more interesting. That is to say, that if you wanted for whatever nefarious reason to obtain confidential information about a member of the Royal Family, seemingly all you have to do is a bad impression of the Queen).
The point is that we should all think twice before vilifying the presenters involved, for several reasons.
Firstly, we don’t yet know what caused Jacintha Saldanha’s death. The inquest is yet to be held. A lot of assumptions have been made, and we all know what assumptions do.
Secondly, we don’t know the full story. We have a number of dots, but anyone who’s ever read a Sherlock Holmes novel will know that there is more than one way to link them up. Just because a suggested sequence of events fits with what we know, or think we know, or makes a neat story, doesn’t mean that is what actually happened.
Thirdly, I find it deeply hypocritical for people to in one breath express concern for the effect that the phone call may or may not have had on Jacintha Saldanha’s mental health, then use the next breath to utter all manner of bile towards two people whose state of mind has been repeatedly described as ‘fragile’ as a result of this week’s events. The chairman of a national mental health charity in Australia has called for calm.
Of course, that’s not how lynch mobs operate. Greig and Christian are the designated bad guys, and the mob won’t stop until they’ve had their pound of flesh.
And that’s why I’ll repeat the statement I made in my article: I hope the mob doesn’t end up with blood on their own hands.
James HugoHorton Martin posted on Monday 10th December 2012 at 01:39
So you’re worried that Greig and Christian may themselves get killed – either by themselves or others – at some point? Part of me thinks that’s what the mob wants. As much as I personally think this duo don’t deserve to breathe oxygen right now, if they top themselves (and it’s reported that there’s a real risk Greig may do so) then it’s a pretty selfish get-out.
Christopher Mockridge posted on Monday 10th December 2012 at 10:23
Pitch forks at the ready then. I believe there are specialist radio shows just for the mob (they may be internet based).
Twitter posted on Monday 10th December 2012 at 11:07
— Sophia Moseley (@Sophia_Moseley) December 10, 2012
<a href="https://twitter.com/mediauk">mediauk</a>simon_kelsey A very sensible viewpoint & well written. Let us hope ‘damage limitation’ will soon kick in.
Ian Beaumont posted on Tuesday 11th December 2012 at 10:10
Simon Kelsey, another person who denegrates genuine opinions as some kind of lynch mob. There is no lynch mob in this story, there is nobody weilding pitchforks and flaming torches outside of the 2Day FM studios in Sydney. There isn’t even a protest outside the studios. At worst, there has been a congregation of journalists.
As for the opinions expressed in forums like the one at Media UK, and on social media, you have had people’s genuine honest opinions. To categorise this free expression of people’s opinions as some kind of lynch mob is dishonesty of the highest order. Unfortunately, far too many people in the media seem to forget that they are there to serve the public, not to ignore public opinion and carry on regardless.
Steve Penk was right about this so called prank. It was a cold prank, with no pay off. In other words, it wasn’t much of a prank. It was an invasion of privacy, and an illegal attempt to obtain confidential medical information by fraudulent means, namely impersonating another person. Yes, that is illegal. The presenters, producers, lawyers and station management at 2Day FM do deserve the full weight of punishment under both British and Australian law in accordance with the laws they have broken.
Simon Kelsey posted on Tuesday 11th December 2012 at 13:45
Ian, I’m confused.
Earlier you said:
...no confidential information was actually given out.
Now you say:
It was an invasion of privacy
Which is it?
It’s illegal to smuggle fake bombs on to airports as well. Or indeed eight inch knives on to aeroplanes. Should we have prosecuted Brian Flynn?
By the way.
another person who denegrates genuine opinions as some kind of lynch mob. There is no lynch mob in this story
Oh, as long as it’s just death threats on Twitter, that’s fine then. After all, it’s only Twitter.
Yesterday, James HugoHorton Martin said:
The Mail are now running an article on how those close to Mel Greig are very worried she may self-harm. Sorry if this sounds unkind, but… er, good.
Do you condone comments like that?
James Martin posted on Tuesday 11th December 2012 at 14:59
Knew that’d get used. Free country, though.
The reason I said that, is because I believe she’s at least in-part responsible for the death of an innocent human being. The fact there are people who say we should feel sorry for either of them, I find utterly bizarre. I’ve had people saying to me “Oh, but as a fellow DJ you should be supporting these two…” No, as a fellow DJ, using the term loosely, I find the fact any of this has been allowed to happen just so very, very wrong.
If that makes me part of a lynch mob then I’m very sorry.
Simon Kelsey posted on Tuesday 11th December 2012 at 15:26
But James, I think that if you’re arguing that what Greig did led to the death of Jacintha Saldanha, with comments like that if anything were to happen to Greig (and let’s hope it doesn’t) I’m not sure that, if I were in your position, I’d feel terribly good about myself afterwards.
I do feel sorry for them, because they couldn’t have envisaged what happened (and I’ll add my usual disclaimer that we don’t actually yet know what happened because we’re still waiting to hear from the coroner. I’d also note that Ms Saldanha’s husband is quoted as saying he is “very angry about the hospital management” – again, we don’t know the full story).
If you did something in good faith and approved by a lawyer, as a result of which you had the
death of an innocent human being
pinned upon you by some people on the Internet who only knew part of the story, how would you feel?
(PS – James, I now realise that you and James HugoHorton are one and the same, which makes more sense – apologies for not picking that up earlier!)
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I think that was me who said that about hoping they never work again. And I stand by what I said. I wouldn’t expect to work again.