Aftershock From The Feb. 2007 Mouth

Much has been written or reported about last month's tragic radio stunt in Sacramento that left Jennifer Strange, a 28 year old mother of three, dead from water intoxification. Oddly, not much in the media has come from talent. We reached out to a number of our readers for their thoughts on this matter, as well as its potential impact on radio. Here are a few excerpts.

>>>>Coming up with the idea and then going on the air the next day is probably a thing of the past. The scary thing is that I could have heard this bit on our show and we would have assumed a waiver would have protected us too. Lesson learned I guess.

>>>>The big lesson here for all of us is twofold: 1. The audience just isn't going to enjoy "dangerous" stunts for awhile, so don't sound like an ass by doing them. 2. You can make a stunt sound way more dangerous than it really is. The way the audience perceives it is what's important.

>>>>....My show hasn't been altered. It was one radio show, one stunt, one tragic fluke. ...This is our version of the stingray killing Steve Irwin. ...I understand that a life was lost and children will have to be raised without their mother. There is nothing more tragic or serious than that. ...But the vehicle was a mathematical stroke of bad luck.

>>>>First off.....we've probably all done this promo ( I think we've done it 4-5 times)... so It is REALLY scary when you here of incidents like this ... however, when we do stunts, we try to anticipate things going wrong and taking precautions... talk to trainers and paramedics, and doctors before you do ANYTHING

!!!!!

Secondly, while it is really hard to come down on contestants, some responsibility has to fall on the people who sign up for stuff like this !!! If I were to have a contest tomorrow and said that I was going to have listeners shove a lit stick of dynamite up there ass, but it probably shouldn't blow up, the listeners should use a little common sense and realize that this form of activity might result in injury. To blindly put your trust in a couple of knucklehead jocks and ASSUME there will be no ramnifications is a pretty sad statement in itself.

>>>>This could have happened to any morning show at some point in their career. We have all done things that we thought were completely harmless and got lucky because they were harmless. With this tragedy, morning shows have to become smarter and more creative, Jackass The Movie killed this kind of radio and that is a good thing. They did it bigger than radio ever could. If you are still shooting your stunt guy with paintballs or having him walk into an Arab owned Quip Stop wearing a ski mask, then you problem aren’t long for morning radio. Eventually, I don’t think owners are going to be willing to take the risk on talent that do this kind of radio, it may get ratings in the short term, but over the long haul they will figure out that it just isn’t worth it.  For years everyone in morning radio hated the word liability, unfortunately now it means something.  Take Care and we will see you at Bootcamp.

>>>>Yes, we have all realized it really could have been ANY one of us. The gang in Sacramento could have never imagined this to be the outcome of a silly water stunt...for God's sake..WATER???? WATER! How about those of us that have done "Fear Factor-ish" stunts like drink the "Smoothie from Hell" on "What Would You Do Wednesday" for a chump prize?? Is this the "Nipple Gate" that will change radio forever?? Well, yes, I'm afraid so...it is hard enough to be crossing your fingers you will work again after getting blown out. How do you keep you sanity in a situation like this??

You bet your ass we have re-thought the way we do ANY of our stunts.... "Hmm, can we get sued by someone who was run over trying to cross the street to come watch our street stunt???" We now go over every worst case scenario possible so our contest rules cover our tails. As far as corporate mandates, we have seen nothing...yet. I'm sure all of our companies will be hammering out some crazy clauses to add to their insurance policies to protect their stations. What about us?? How will we, as the talent that drives all their revenue and ratings, be protected??? It seems the Sacramento Ten have been hung out to dry. Doctors have malpractice insurance when someone in a hosptial dies so they can keep working. We, in radio, don't have that security.

Like they say...it takes a tragedy to teach us a lesson, right? Unfortunately, someone has to take the fall and be made the example so it never happens again. To the Sacramento Ten, I don't think ANY of us have looked at a Nintendo Wii commercial without you crossing our thoughts. Good Luck to you all and let's all hope this is the last time we have to deal with something so tragic and random.

>>>>we haven't been told anything from our company or syndicator. Sad story....will change radio forever no question.

>>>>The death in Sacramento underscores a simple problem ailing all radio these days. People who have risen to the executive levels through the ranks of sales have gotten it in their heads collectively that talent development and programming are either very easy to do, or not at all necessary, and it's come home to roost...The over the top outrage and criticism at the unguided air talents solves nothing and paints everyone in radio broadcasting with a broad brush that puts a frost on reasonable and creative risk takers, something that radio sorely needs these days to revive it's competitive edge.