Media watchdog launches investigation into live radio following Kyle & Jackie O scandal
Australia’s media regulator has taken the rare step of intervening in the Kyle & Jackie O lie detector scandal before the network’s 60 day deadline to deal with public complaints has expired.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority said in a statement it would be investigating whether the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice need to be tightened to protect members of the public taking part in live segments on entertainment shows on commercial radio. This could involve creating a new standard of practice that broadcasters would be held to.
The announcement follows the disastrous segment at the end of last month when a 14-year-old girl was asked about her sexual experiences and blurted out that she had been raped.
ACMA initially referred complaints to Austereo, saying that the network should deal with them in the first instance. Despite numerous requests from Mumbrella, Austereo has so far refused to disclose how many complaints were received, although ACMA says it has referred 137 complaints to the network. The Austereo complaints process will continue while the ACMA invetigations looks at the wider question of standards in radio.
I hope they get crucified… but something tells me they won’t.
The sleeping dog awakes! Now let’s see if it has any teeth?
An obvious deficiency in the Codes is treatment of minors on radio. There’s no mention in the Codes of minors at all.
It’s pretty poor though if *everything* needs to be spelled out in the Codes. There’ll always be a situation not covered by the Codes where the broadcaster needs to exercise social responsibility and good sense. How do you legislate for that?