Did 2DayFM Break the Law?

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, December 11, 2012

As the controversy revolving around the now tragic prank phone call from Australian radio morning duo Mel Greig and Michael Christian continues, questions are being raised regarding whether radio station 2DayFM broke the law with the stunt. It's the age old question of whether a private conversation was broadcast without the permission of the participants.

If guilty of the crime, violators in Australia can be sentenced to prison but the question looms of who at 2DayFM or its parent company, Southern Cross Austereo, made the decision to air the call. Greig and Christian insist executives above them made the decision, but a former 2DayFM host who orchestrated many past pranks at 2DayFM said DJs were always involved in such decisions while she was there.

According to a report in the Washington Post, Southern Cross Austereo has said the station had tried five times to contact the hospital, but privacy law expert Barbara McDonald said that may end up being an inadequate defense noting, "Seems to me that saying, 'We tried to call,' shows that they knew they should, and they've made a decision to go ahead knowing that they have not got permission. I don't know whether it makes the situation better, or worse."

The New South Wales state Surveillance Devices Act prohibits the broadcast of recorded private conversations without participants' permission, with violations punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $58,000.

Meanwhile, evidence is emerging that 2DayFM has a long history of similar pranks and "jokes" with often devastating outcomes. One such incident of note occurred in 2009 on the station's "Kyle and Jackie O" show when a mother brought her 14-year-old daughter into the station to grill the teen on her drug and sexual life while she was hooked to a lie detector. When the mother asked if her daughter had ever had sex the teen replied, "I've already told you the story about this...and don't look at me and smile because it's not funny."

But after continued chiding from the DJ's the young girl then blurted out, "Oh OK...I got raped when I was 12 years old." Without so much as a single thought about the girl's well being, host Kyle Sandilands didn't skip a beat and said, "Right, is that the only experience you've had?"

The bit resulted in a police investigation and the DJs were suspended, but back on aftr a week according to a report from TMZ. Other bits also resulted in police investigations until the show was finally saddled with a full-time censor and removed segments from their online archives including a feature where people stripped for money, another where they searched for the man with the smallest penis in Sydney.