You cant really expect Austereo to do much, they have a vested interest.. NO wonder Radio has gone down the toilet in Australia ever since Roadshow (owners of Austereo) bought the Triple M network….ultimately creating a huge monopoly…. Radio in Australia is full of second rate B grade celebs… !!

And for ideas of good entertainment
a) lets make a reality show where participants randomly pick suburbs and be amateur vigilantes to reduce crime in those areas. whoever stops the most crime will be the winner.
b) What about a reality show where the people compete with their artistic skills say painting, skulpting etc. We could have a spin off too with celebs doing a show. The art could then be auctioned off to raise money for charity
c) A reality show where our army in Iraq or Afghanistan are shown what they go through every day
d) We could have groups debating about real life topics and the winning group can then have a question hour with the ruling party in a private parliament kind of setting
If any media producers are interested i can elaborate or provide more ideas.

Can’t you just hear the same sort of person sneering throughout the centuries?

“We Romans have ALWAYS enjoyed watching people fight to the death for our pleasure”.

“We Americans have ALWAYS kept slaves”.

“We men have ALWAYS not let women vote”.

No matter what sort of example Jay comes up with to make the issue seem difficult, it’s fairly clear to most of the commenters here that forcing a 14-year-old to talk about their sex life for public entertainment is wrong. Yes, “The Biggest Loser” is full of manipulative rubbish, like granting immunity from the weekly elimination to the contestant who eats the most junk food. Does that make what Sandilands and Henderson did OK? No, it doesn’t.

It’s interesting that several of my friends who don’t normally watch reality TV enjoyed Masterchef, in part because the usual manipulation wasn’t a big part of the show: it focussed on skill and challenge, not on creating conflict. Perhaps that’s a demonstration that TV that challenges the bullying style can win ratings. If so, that’s a sign that maybe Sandliands and Henderson CAN be defeated where it counts – in battle for public opinion.

I ask again the question I asked in the first comment on this thread – does anyone have any ideas for entertainment that could take away listeners from shows like Sandiland’s and Henderson’s, without appealing to nastiness?

With TV shows like Sex and the city, desperate housewives, californication sex is glorified to the maximum and so popular and dont tell me young kids wont get to watch it just because there is a rating and warning for it.

Any sort of entertaintment comes at a cost. It could either be self deprecating humour right from charlie chaplin,laurel and hardy, three stoges to hamish and Andy or by bullying others like kyle and jackie o or merrick and rosso. But the fact as some one else said there is an audience for everything. If you want every channel to be like BBC and CNN it is not possible and also would we prefer it?

Any media will bring what people want. They are not dumb to reject people’s voice or wants and put an end to their profits. Blame the culture which encourages such shows. Blame us first.

Many in these comments have saif if you don’t like the show then don’t watch it. The truth is even if you or me stop listening to the show there will be several others who will and thats society for you. The only way to get rid of the filth is the society as a whole to reject what is not right. Can you try teaching manufacturers from making smoke products? Can you teach stores to stop selling smoke products? Can you tell the government to stop companies from selling smoke products? It is never going to happen. All they and we can do is advise the society not to smoke. Those who listen good on them those who dont a shame. At the end of the day you may succeed at ridding kyle and Jackie o but u cant stop someone else doing the same.

Where is the parential skills? Where is the communication amongst both parties?

Bob, Dr Feelgood is a 20-year qualified Medical Practitioner, with credentials in medicine and journalism. She doesn’t use lie detectors or swimming pools filled with honey to interview or humiliate callers to her programs.

“Important dialogue?” Like who has the smallest penis in Sydney? Like who at 2DAY has the highest sperm count? The show appeals to juveniles and the juvenile, nothing better.

Interviewing a 14yo girl AGAINST HER WILL about her sex life was wrong, and downright dangerous. But the reason so many people are upset is because the show is CONSISTENTLY tawdry and damaging, not just with this incident.

Are you saying that the measure of whether something is ethical or acceptable is people’s inclination to listen to it on the radio?

If the segment in question were merely crass, I would be happy with the “if you don’t like it, don’t listen” solution. The reason that I, and many others, take issue with 2Day FM’s actions is that a 14 year old girl was put in the position of being pressured to talk about her sex life on public radio. The question of whether she was raped is largely irrelevant. The issue is that a person with little bargaining power was publicly humiliated for no other reason than the titillation of listeners.

And while I consider the actions of the girl’s mother just as reprehensible, the fact that she she arranged for her daughter to take part in the segment does not excuse the actions of the staff at 2Day FM who allowed it to go ahead. The fact is that parents sometimes abuse their children. This does not absolve the rest of us from speaking up when we see it happen, and it certainly does not make it OK for us to join in.

Saint Kyle the educator?! Too funny.

And what on Earth does wars, death and cancer got to do with this?

As for your Big Brother comparison, BB was also a vile little show that public outrage also helped push off the air, but it at least was shown late at night with, as you point out, a viewer discretion warning. Parents have no such luxury with K & JO which is broadcast on weekday mornings with 10 year olds being a major part of their demographic – Kyle admitted as much with the interview with Denton and as the ratings breakdown shows.

They use PUBLIC airways to distribute their crap, so I’m afraid the “if you don’t like it don’t listen” rule doesn’t apply here. There’s an audience for everything, that doesn’t mean it should be broadcast.

Bob and Sam do not share the same IP address, if that’s what you’re wondering.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

AND if you want to ignore the world around you, and live in a bubble where everything is roses, then good on you. But sadly this isn’t the case for most people.
oh, and paul, not embarressed by my views, my real name is Sam. I just get sick of people sitting on high horses, not using their brains and judgement. I realise I may have got off the topic of Kyle and Jackie O, but peope are on here talking about a bigger issue.

One blogger here said they did good things for people out of the missery of others, but again, this is slightly misguided. What about all those people that have rung in, with nowhere else to turn in their minds and Kyle and Jackie O have helped out? Kyle has spent thousands of his own money to help these people. The lie detector only brings to light that there are people out there with problems and sometimes kids who are problem kids. Some parents feel they have no where to turn and they trun to shows such as this.

The other fact that people seem to be forgetting is this. Why the hell would any self respecting mother place her 14 year old daughter in that situation full well knowing that her daughter had been raped? Maybe she should be taking a parenting class.

The media in my mind has blown all this out of proportion, and many people with “educated” opinions have not even all the facts. Remember people, whist people like and want this style of radio, there will be shows that cater to them, and when people decide that they don’t want to listen to these shows, then they will cease to exist, but until then, if you don’t like it, use your brain and turn it off!

There have been many television and radio programs dealing with teen sexuality over the years, Dr Feelgood being just one of them, but none of them humiliate and shame their subjects for others entertainment which is the style of K & JO.

They are pathetic and talentless – something the whole rape debacle proved in spades, and they shouldn’t be left anywhere near an open microphone.