Death after water drinking contest:

[AlexMack]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

Survival of da fittest!!!!

NaturAl Selection is Failing! LOLol!

[valkyrie]

Originally Posted by centaur532

NaturAl Selection is Failing! LOLol!

TEH DARWIN!!! IT DOES NOT WORK!!!!!!

[Glitter650]

I was thinking of that incident in Chico when I heard about this.. EVERYONE in the country let alone those in California ALL Heard about the hazing incident ESP. those in media... Those DJs KNEW there coudl be harm. My friend heard the broadcast and said that there were nurses and docs. calling in saying it was dangerous.

[UGAalum94]

The description of the tape here looks bad, but I wonder, if everybody there heard it, really why should the DJs be more responsible for stopping the participants than the participants themselves, in a criminal sense, at least?

These are people who aren't in the care of the station; they are voluntary contest participants.

Imagine

A: "Hey, you want to be in my dumb contest?"
B: "Sure."

Someone else: "That contest could hurt you.

A: "You want to be in my dumb contest?"
B: "Sure."

Why is A more responsible than B?

It amazes me that anyone who knew of a water intoxication death would allow people to guzzle enough water to kill themselves but it still seems goofy to say they were more responsible that the folks who chose to do it. Can one of you legal folks explain it?

I think it's interesting that at first they had to wait between bottles of water. It seems to me that they could have safely done this dumb-incredibly-poor-taste contest simply by making it about how long people could wait having consumed a uniform amount of water.

[texas*princess]

I totally agree that the contestants themselves should hold themselves accountable.

If the DJ's were talking about water intoxication, and people were calling in about how dangerous it might be, but in the end, they still competed, why is it the station's fault?

I realize they are the ones who created the contest in the first place, but given all the feedback about it, the contestants still went ahead with it to win a stupid game console.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

The description of the tape here looks bad, but I wonder, if everybody there heard it, really why should the DJs be more responsible for stopping the participants than the participants themselves, in a criminal sense, at least?

Well, here's one thing to consider from a professional broadcaster.

On air radio stations are licensed by the Federal Government to operate in the public's best interest.

As I said early in the thread, it isn't likely that the FCC's mandate would specifically cover something like manslaughter, but the licensee of the station should be operating in the public's "interest, convenience and necessity," to quote the original Communications Act.

It is not in the public interest to run a contest that endgangers lives.

[UGAalum94]

That makes sense, but under those circumstance it seem more appropriate to suspend the station's FCC license because they generally failed to deliver on that mission.


And I agree that the contest was stupid, but how could you reconcile the purpose you've given with the crappy alcohol ads, fake weightloss product ads, and random lewd but safe contests stations run generally?

[Kevin]

Recent reports have shown that the D.A. is investigating manslaughter charges.

(what did I tell y'all?)

[valkyrie]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Recent reports have shown that the D.A. is investigating manslaughter charges.

(what did I tell y'all?)

Uhh, prosecutors would charge Mother Teresa with manslaughter.

[DeltAlum]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

That makes sense, but under those circumstance it seem more appropriate to suspend the station's FCC license because they generally failed to deliver on that mission.


And I agree that the contest was stupid, but how could you reconcile the purpose you've given with the crappy alcohol ads, fake weightloss product ads, and random lewd but safe contests stations run generally?

On your first point, I agree. I think the station's license should be pulled.

On the second, though, it isn't within the expertise of broadcasters to know if something like alcohol, over the counter drugs and stuff like that is safe. Even though, in some cases, everyone knows better. It took decades for the government to ban cigarette advertising even after fairly clear links to cancer were discovered. I'm also not saying that some stations will not do pretty much anything for money. I've not been in commercial, on air broadcasting for a while, but I seem to recall there there were some free speech issues claimed by some advertisers who were denied air time.

I don't remember what they were and I don't remeber how those issues were resolved.

[DeltAlum]

http://www.nbc11.com/news/10762819/detail.html

According to the story link above, a wrongful death suit will be filed. The attorney for the family of the victim says it wants to make an example of the "shock jocks" involved who allegedly knew of the dangers involved and made jokes about the situation.