Bad Taste Radio - Girl Dumped Live On The Radio

[Bill O'Neill]

Doug Drown wrote:
> Their naivete and their consequent pain are paraded for all the
> nation to see.  There's something sick about that.
>   
Long before reality TV, there was reality (talk) radio.  I considered 
callers to any talk show I was hosting over the years as a guest. Even 
if things went bad, as it were, I was the host and they were my guest, 
not fodder.  I consistently felt somewhat responsible for that person 
who would now be off of the phone, left to deal with whatever was going 
on, now alone.  (I know that sounds a bit over-ripe, but....) 

Likewise, broadcasters (remember those?) need to remember that the 
cattle parades that line up for reality TV are invited guests.  And how 
we treat our guests says more about us than other measures of success or 
power.

Bill O'Neill