How Austereo handles Kyle and Jackie O’s return after the lie detector incident could have implications for the whole industry. Steve Ahern analyses the options for Austereo as it moves to bring its top rating stars back on air.

A line has been drawn.

Austereo knows it, and has to act. But there is a delicate balancing act involved in handling the Kyle and Jackie O lie detector incident.

2 Day FM’s teenage audience revels in ritual humiliation, bullying and exploitation, as long as it is not happening to them. In school playgrounds around the country, humiliating and demeaning practices take place every day. The playground can be a cruel place. Kyle and Jackie’s on-air act simply reflects the contemporary reality of some sectors of its target audience.

11.4% of the Sydney breakfast audience listen to Kyle and Jackie’s 2Day breakfast show. But 88.6% of the Sydney audience do not listen.

Just look at the postings on the 2Day breakfast show blog, which show that many regular listeners are wondering what all the fuss is about.

The segment was wrong and inappropriate, but sober analysis of all the factors involved is required to work out what Austereo should do about the problem without killing the goose that lays its golden eggs.

There are three main options for Austereo.

Tough it out.

The company could take the ‘we will back our stars at all costs’ approach and tough out the storm of controversy that is raging around Kyle and Jackie, putting them back on again soon without any official public comment. This would send the wrong message and could get the company into more hot water.

The current broadcasting codes take a ‘co-regulatory approach’ which requires the broadcaster to respond directly to complaints. Austereo has grounds to justify a carefully worded reply explaining its position to anyone who complains. Despite the fact that the segment was exploitative and in very bad taste, the participants knew what they were in for and consented to be on air. The mother of the young girl did not disclose a material fact to the breakfast show team before the segment went live to air.

The stinger in the tail however is that, if complainants are not satisfied with the way Austereo replies, the matter could then be referred to the regulator. If ACMA gets involved, and finds Austereo did not respond adequately, then a nightmare scenario similar to the fall-out from cash for comment could open up and affect personality entertainment radio shows on all radio networks around the country. The radio industry does not want that.

At worst the wheel could turn back to the bad old days when the Broadcasting Authority made strict rules about what could go to air and desk bound government bureaucrats would regulate content.

2Day’s style of radio is entertainment and needs the freedom to amuse and provoke, but within limits. This lie detector segment clearly overstepped those limits.

ACMA has already put Austereo on notice that it expects an appropriate response. Advertisers have signalled their displeasure at the controversy. Credible public figures have spoken out against putting a 14 year old on a lie detector in a live to air breakfast show. They are all sending the message that there is a line and it has been crossed.

Unreservedly backing your stars in this case would not be a good option, especially since 2Day’s parent company Austereo has struggled long and hard in recent years to rid itself of the cowboy behaviour that was so common in the company during the early years of FM radio. Departing CEO Michael Anderson put on record more than once how he was changing the culture within, but the antics of the Kyle and Jackie breakfast show hark back to an earlier era before the leopard worked so hard to change its spots.

Yet Kyle and Jackie are professional entertainers who have consistently delivered the goods for their employer and have a right to expect they will not be hung out to dry.

If you listen to the segment it is evident that, although exploitative and offensive, it was done by the book, with all the right declarations and checks said on air as part of the introduction. Kyle and Jackie are professional broadcasters who are generally good at their job.

A delicate series of negotiations will undoubtedly be happening behind the scenes to ensure that the station’s moral and regulatory obligations can be met without breaching the terms of the stars’ contracts. Kyle and Jackie will undoubtedly have an element of creative control written into their contracts, but they will also be bound by clauses about following the company’s ‘policies and procedures,’ which is why a full review is taking place within Austereo.

Find a scapegoat.

The second option Austereo could take is to follow a time honoured radio industry practice of finding a scapegoat, blaming them, and sacking them. Producers, audio operators, juniors could all potentially have the finger pointed at them. One of them could lose their job. It has been done before. But this would be seen as disingenuous and would deny the fact that the Austereo company is the ‘publisher’ of all on-air material and bears final responsibility for training and enforcement of proper practices.

Fess up and fix it.

There is a third option. Publicly apologise and insist on the future use of a delay system in such segments.

Nova got caught out a while ago putting a call from a prostitute live to air who revealed a high profile politician was one of her clients. They did not have delay. Radio ‘blooper tapes’ are full of many other embarrassing examples. 2Day is not the only station with a policy issue to decide here, it is just the one in the current spotlight.

This debacle could have been prevented if a delay system was in use.

Making entertaining, live, daily radio is like walking on a high wire without a net. There is a thrill and the audience loves it, but sometimes you fall and get badly hurt.

For the most dangerous high wire stunts there is no shame in voluntarily using a safety net.

Kyle and Jackie may not like the idea, but it is the only sensible solution left. This is not the first time something like this has happened.

The best course of action Austereo could take would be:

* for management and the broadcast team to collectively admit their mistake and publicly apologise before Kyle and Jackie return to air,

* to make sure the girl concerned receives appropriate help,

* to rethink how to deal with this kind of ‘out-there’ reality content in future without sanitising it so much that it loses its appeal, and

* to install delay systems in all stations and use them when airing risky segments.

Kyle and Jackie’s reputations will be enhanced by an apology and Austereo will be seen to be acting with good moral integrity. It may restore some dignity to the 14 year old girl and will send a message about what is the right way to act.

This will show the public and the broadcast regulator that they are serious about making sure they know where the line is, and that they have put mechanisms in place so it will not be crossed in future.