Ofcom raps DJ Penk over suicide jokes

Tuesday, April 13 2010, 11:56 BST

By Andrew Laughlin,

Ofcom has rapped North West radio DJ Steve Penk for joking on-air about a woman considering suicide, and playing the Van Halen track 'Jump'.

During the Steve Penk At Breakfast show on the Revolution 96.2 FM in January, Penk made a series of jokes and off-hand comments about the woman, who ended up leaping from a bridge over the M60 but survived.

After the incident was reported in the Greater Manchester show's travel updates, the DJ said that it should be "videoed and sent to Harry Hill".

Penk also claimed how inconsiderate the suicidal woman was for holding up rush-hour traffic and suggested placing a pile of mattresses, a bouncy castle or a trampoline for her to jump on.

He subsequently played 'Jumping Jumping' by Destiny's Child and 'Jump' by Van Halen following requests from listeners.

Ofcom received 57 complaints about the DJ's behaviour being offensive and insensitive, particularly that playing the song 'Jump' showed a "complete lack of sensitivity to a horrific personal tragedy".

In response, Revolution 96.2 FM accepted that Penk's decision to play 'Jump' was "dangerous" but argued that he had shown professionalism by not linking the song to the M60 Incident.

"[Penk] thought very carefully about [the requests] and took the view that playing the track, and making a point of it, would have been insensitive, cheap and likely to cause offence," said the station.

"Steve's intent was to 'subliminally' demonstrate to [the listeners] and [their] fellow sufferers that he had empathy with their predicament without causing widespread upset amongst the wider audience."

In its Broadcast Bulletin, Ofcom accepted that suicide is not off limits as a "subject for comedy", but it always must be justified in the editorial context of the programme.

The media regulator therefore ruled that Revolution 96.2 FM breached broadcasting regulations pertaining to generally accepted standards of behaviour.

"While some listeners may have been frustrated to be caught in traffic (and contacted the station) most would have been aware that, in real time as the programme was being aired, there was a woman considering suicide," said Ofcom.

"Under such circumstances, and given this context, Ofcom does not consider that the broadcaster applied generally accepted standards. The comments were not made in isolation or in the context of a comedy sketch or performance, but came directly off the back of a serious news item.

"Further, such comments as 'video it and send it to Harry Hill, it's a win-win situation isn't it?' added to the overall inappropriateness of the content - given it was an unfolding news item about a serious matter."