Media

Aussie prank scandal DJ returns to the airwaves

By | Published on Monday 11 February 2013

2day FM

One of the DJs involved in the prank call that contributed to the death by suicide of a London nurse has returned to the airwaves for the first time since the on air stunt took a tragic turn last December.

Michael ‘MC’ Christian and Mel Greig grabbed global headlines after they phoned the London hospital that was, at the time, caring for a then recently pregnant Kate Middleton. Pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, they convinced one nurse to connect them to Middleton’s ward, and another into discussing her condition. The former nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, took her own life just days later.

MC and Greig’s show was immediately taken off the air at Sydney-based 2day FM as the ethics of prank calls staged and broadcast without the permission of the victims, or even their close friends or family members, was debated in the wider radio industry. And then late last month, a new programme was launched in the schedule spot previously occupied by the controversial DJs.

Nevertheless, station owners Southern Cross Austereo insisted that both presenters would eventually return to the airwaves and, according to The Guardian, MC has now popped up on one of the media-group’s stations in Melbourne, Fox FM, where he worked before moving to the 2day FM show. He will present a basic morning-time music-based show which has no phone-in features. He didn’t mention the controversy during his first stint on the new programme.

Confirming MC’s return to one of his company’s stations, Southern Cross Austereo CEO Rhys Holleran told reporters: “We are happy to have Michael back on air. We have always supported our talent returning to work when appropriate and today marks that occasion for MC. We look forward to [also] welcoming Mel Grieg back when the time is right”.

As previously reported, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service recently said it would not pursue any criminal action against the DJs or their employer, because there was no case for manslaughter in relation to Saldanha’s suicide, and while British data protection and communications laws may have been breached, it wouldn’t be possible to extradite anyone from Australia to face such charges, and “however misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank”.



READ MORE ABOUT: | | | |