Wil Anderson “a terrible tragedy”

Staff Writer

In an article in the Fairfax Press today, journalist Michael Lallo has spoken with three former Southern Cross Austereo presenters regarding this weeks prank call, and the tragic consequences.

Wil Anderson made the following comments;

"Firstly, I have sympathy for the nurse and her family because this is a terrible tragedy, but I also have a fair degree of sympathy for these kids (MC and Mel)"

"These are kids who are trying to make a name in an industry where Kyle Sandilands gets all the attention. Is the culture of radio to blame? Possibly. But people make thousands of these prank calls each year and they usually result in good material".

Current 2UE, and former Triple M and Nova, Announcer Paul Murray said that the incident was not malicious;

"People are intentionally trying to put it in that category, but it wasn't malicious … it was a big mistake. Contrary to popular belief, people in FM radio don't sit in front of a whiteboard and say, 'Who can we hurt today?'." 

"This is simply not in the same category as the lie-detector incident. Do people get hurt in radio? Yes, by accident. Should that organisation apologise and change their rules and policies when that happens? Absolutely".

Paul Murray also commented on his recollection of SCA prank call policy saying that he recalled it being;

"you must get the subject's permission before you put the prank call to air (but) those rules don't extend to subjects who are overseas".

Pete Helliar, who was on 2Day and 3MMM said;

"This is absolutely tragic (but) I don't think you can blame these guys completely for what happened. People should be careful in going too hard on these guys."

"They never would have thought, in a million years, that it would have gone this far. I feel sorry for everyone involved, especially for the lady and her family."

You can read the complete article in the Fairfax Press here.

For support and information about suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or www.beyondblue.org.au

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