You've reached our premium or archival content
To access this page, and more great content just like it, you need to become a paid subscriber.
If you already have an account, please login.
Otherwise, registration is quick and you'll have access instantly after payment.
Rather than the Australian Communications and Media Authority deflecting complaints about this incident back to 2DAY FM for the station itself to handle, it might perhaps be time for ACMA to show that it really isn't the toothless body many in the radio industry believe it to be.
The statement by 2DAY that they are removing the two presenters from air for the time being out of respect for the dead nurse shows that they fail to grasp the seriousness of the situation, and the disgust that has been felt around the world about this appalling misuse of the airwaves.
The management of the radio spectrum is the responsibility of ACMA. Too often, they have allowed inappropriate use of this public resource to go unchecked. Rather than allowing 2DAY to suspend advertising until the furore dies down, and therefore setting their own "penalty" for this situation, perhaps ACMA should be suspending the station's licence immediately pending an investigation of the culture behind this serial offender's use of the radio airwaves.
There should then be stringent conditions placed on the licence before it is reinstated, with any further offences to result in the permanent cancellation of the licence.
As for the two presenters involved, why haven't they already been sacked? They are not the victims here, as the station's offer of counselling would suggest. That they are still employed suggests that 2DAY is condoning what they did, which apparently was vetted by the station's legal department before it happened.
Tacky radio that deserves tough ACMA action, not just another slap on the wrist.
P.S. I am not employed in the commercial radio industry, or by a national broadcaster, so there is no vested interest in these comments, just a desire to see decency restored to radio.