How far should radio go?
This KSBY story about the woman that died in the Sacramento area from water intoxication during a morning show stunt for a Nintendo Wii saddens me....the whole radio crew was deservedly fired last Tuesday. Matt McAllister from KTYD sees how it could happen anywhere -- but also questions why the "red flag" didn't go up. Is the onslaught of satellite and internet radio competition making DJs go too far?
posted by Sara De la Guerra | 1/20/2007 11:20:00 AM
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8 Comments:
They should stick to music. There's already too much chatter, which is why I don't listen to KTYD any longer and Matt's show is what pushed me over the edge. He never shuts up.
"They signed releases, so we're not responsible. So it's okay." Is this the modern ethic now...?
Sadly the phenomenon of exploiting human humiliation for entertainment is not as new as satellites and the internet, or even as recent as the radio. While we no longer stage the public mauling of helpless captives by wild animals as the Romans did, we unfortunately still do not shirk from from experiencing and the enjoying the spectacle of the humiliation of strangers. It is an ignorant, savage, coarse, and borish practice that belies any claim that those who participate may have on being civilized, educated, or aesthetically refined. Think you're above it all? Did you ever laugh at the dramatized humiliation of Lucy Arnez? Did you ever stand in a circle on a playground watching some child get a savage beating? Did you ever laugh when someone tripped and fell? That's where it starts. Indeed, the sad case of the woman who died of water poisoning is an extreme example of the lengths to which we will travel to enjoy the perverse and cruel entertainment of human humiliation. But we all share a portion of the responsibility for this tragedy by passively accepting this type of activity in our culture. Shame on us.
I agree stick to music and knock off the idiocy...and preferably something from this century. I can't believe when I put it on KTYD or KLOS and hear them playing Crosby Stills and Nash, the Moody Blues or Kansas. I mean, come one, its 2007, they can't find something from the last 10 years to play?
I never hear enough new music on the radio anymore. How about playing more Better Than Ezra, Dishwalla, Marcy's Playground, Sister Hazel or how about some Default, Staind, Tonic and Vertical Horizon just to name a few? Even Alanis Morrisette has some excellent new music that I rarely hear on the radio.
If the radio stations want to play stuff from artists from the 60's, 70's and 80's, then play something new from REM or Robert Plant. Plant's new music is fantastic.
I never want to hear Crosby Still and Nash or Styx or the Beatles played on the radio ever again. If I want to hear music recorded before thebaby boomers graduated from high school I will find my old vinyl collection and play it myself.
I find it surprising that Nipper hasn't yet sent out a press release relating to this water intoxication tragedy, considering he's a renowned water expert.
The culture of our civilization has always enjoyed the public and private torture of our fellow man. This is disturbing too many but the practice continues. It takes many forms, just watch TV or take a wonder around the internet it is there for all to see and for some to enjoy. It takes a person with convictions to protest against this culture of cruelty towards our fellow man.
I hope the people responsible will be held fully accountable for this crime ( the planned possible murder and subsequent murder ... first and second degree murder charges) as it is the only way to try turn the current culture away from this practice. To the people who listened to this display and enjoyed it, think if it had been you or someone that you cared about and not just a "someone else".
On a side note to you Sara, thank you for providing our community with something positive and helpful ... something that our News Press and it management can no longer do. Keep on Bloging!
I would like to remind all who are quick to point fingers, that we as humans and Americans posses free will. It would be a wonderful world indeed if we each had to pass a 'common sense course' before being allowed to exercise that free will, but that's simply not the case. I agree that the whole premise was/is stupid, but thats another wonderful part of being human, we don't each always agree on what is or isn't fun/funny/worthy/beautiful/stupid...etc., and we don't have to. You don't like gambling? Don't go to casinos. You don't like sex on TV? Don't watch it. You think water drinking contests are idiotic and perhaps dangerous? Don't participate in one.
An old phrase I'm sure each of us has heard a parent say, or has even said oneself comes to mind here, "If so-and-so jumped off a bridge, would you?" And sadly, Jennifer Strange apparently answered "Yes." No one made her do it. No one should be sued for someone else's decision to participate in idiotic behavior. Period.
But of course, that's just my opinion.
If Al Gore was President this wouldn't have happened.
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