The Dumbed-Down Society

[Pogo]

... and the concept of Taking Responsibility for One's Own Ignorance

Here's a story that just came across my "desk", hard to believe...

Florida DJs May Face Felony Charge for April Fool's Joke

>> Florida country radio morning-show hosts Val St. John and Scott Fish are currently serving indefinite suspensions and possibly worse over a successful April Fools' Day prank. They told their listeners that "dihydrogen monoxide" was coming out of the taps throughout the Fort Myers area.

Dihydrogen monoxide is water.

(from another story): >> The joke immediately got the attention of Patty DiPiero of Lee County Utilities. She said residents began calling the utility Monday morning — the joke played on a 5-to-9 a.m. show — saying they heard that county water was unsafe and should not be used for drinking, showering or for any use.

"My understanding is it is a felony to call in a false water quality issue," said Diane Holm, a public information officer for the Florida Department of Health in Lee County, because a false report can affect a large segment of the population. She added that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection had been asked to check into the hoax, but a department spokesman said the department had nothing to investigate.

The two DJs, Val St. John and Scott Fish, who have been with WWGR-FM here for 16 years and 10 years respectively, were suspended indefinitely. The radio station has recanted the joke and been apologizing during station breaks. <<

The station ran apologies, and noises were made over "felony charges" -- all because some wankers don't recognize a description of "water".

WTF is wrong with people?

I think this has since blown over, but ... really, Florida? Felony charges because you don't recognize water?

Reminds me of the teacher who got reprimanded for teaching the word niggardly... unbelievable.

Bottom line: people have to start taking responsibility for their own ignorance.

 

[Truthmatters]

the whole reason this type of thing is illegal is the cost to government to correct the misconception.


They should have done a quick joke on it and then explained exhuastively what the truth was.


They could have done a learning momment joke but instead caused a public panic

 

[Truthmatters]

think of it this way.

YOU want to pay money to fix the messes created so people can make jokes like this freely?

 

[Pogo]

the whole reason this type of thing is illegal is the cost to government to correct the misconception.


They should have done a quick joke on it and then explained exhuastively what the truth was.


They could have done a learning momment joke but instead caused a public panic

The DJs didn't cause the public panic; the public did.
Nobody said the water was unsafe. That was the ignorance talking. Just the idea that anyone might be charged with a felony because somebody else didn't get it, is appalling. As it is they got suspended-- I think they're back on, but the station bending over for Ignorance, when it's the public that was in the wrong, is indefensible. All that does is promote more ignorance, and suppress humour.

This wasn't even a War of the Worlds moment -- it's an old joke that 's been done many times before. Nothing about "there may be dihydrogen monoxide coming out of your tap" is untrue. There is no "what the truth was" to bring forward; it was already truth. There is no "mess" that would cost anything to fix; it's the way the water system is supposed to work.

Bottom line, we as a mob mentality society seem to to just react without hearing what's being said. That's not the speaker's fault -- it's that of the hearer who's not hearing.

 

[editec]

I think you complaint is with the owners of the radio station, isn't it?

Given how insignificant the charge is, leads me to think management has a much longer list of complaints than these.

 

[Pogo]

I think you complaint is with the owners of the radio station, isn't it?

Given how insignificant the charge is, leads me to think management has a much longer list of complaints than these.

Not really. The radio station seems to have caved in to mob ignorance, which is always problematic... the Miami Marlins made the same mistake with the fake-kerfuffle over their manager's remarks about Fidel Castro exactly a year ago (and I'll shamelessly mention that I predicted at the time that as a result of that, the Marlins would finish last, which nobody else bought then, and by season's end I was proved right, but I digress).

Caving in to ignorance just enables all this, but my larger complaint is how we as a culture react to our own ignorance punitively, setting blame on a teacher or a prankster or an innocent comment taken out of context, instead of learning from the moment, or in this case being entertained by it. We react as if a challenging idea (or a joke) is some kind of offense just because we didn't get it. It foments a dumb-down society where ignorance trumps intellect. And that can never end well.