Follow up comment from Peter Saxon
 
Yesterday, I posted an opinion piece about the uproar caused by Kyle Sandilands inflammatory remarks about religion generally and the Virgin Mary, in particular.
 
Among other things, I criticised Kyle for the feeble apology he’d issued in the aftermath of a demonstration outside the KIIS 106.5 studios last week…
 
Kyle also gave an apology, of sorts, for his intemperate remarks about Mary and those who believe in the virgin birth. He’s not the only one to use the dismissive line popular with those for whom causing offence is stock in trade, “Sorry if I offended anyone with my comments.”
 
Apologies are only worthwhile when they are heartfelt and unconditional. They don’t work so well when they are bordering on victim-blaming. Those who use that phrase may think they’re saying, ‘I’m sorry to have offended you,’ but what the victim is hearing is, ‘If you were offended by that then it’s really your problem that you’re so thin skinned.’

I posted that article at 4:30am, just as Breakfast teams were reporting for duty at sparrows. It gained immediate traction. And just after 6:00 am he delivered the kind of apology that he should have given in the first place.
 
It was probably coincidence. Maybe it was mental telepathy. Or perhaps management had got in his ear and told him about how Alan Jones was going with the advertiser boycott over at 2GB. Whatever it was that compelled him to issue this third public apology, it was clear that Kyle was in full damage control, telling his listeners that he’d consulted the network’s PR people for advice on how to best handle this matter.
 
Nonetheless, to me it sounded like an authentic, heartfelt mea culpa. He says he thought he was being funny but admits he got it horribly wrong. He tells how he was bombarded by phone calls after someone had leaked his private number but resists the urge to use that as deflection to gain sympathy for himself. And blames no one but himself. 
 
He says that even his friends were telling him he’d crossed way over the line and then put callers to air that reinforced the fact that he’d made a dumb decision to tackle religion and cause such offence. 
 
In the end, the whole segment was longer than playing the full versions of American Pie and MacArthur Park back to back. Call the Guinness people! At 14:40 minutes it could be the longest apology ever issued by a radio presenter on-air. 

Peter Saxon