Community members have raised concern about radio station NOVA’s afternoon hosts Tim Blackwell and Marty Sheargold making fun of a suspected murder in the USA.
In a regular segment called ‘Unbelievable Murders’, the duo discussed the case of husband and wife Mike and Pamela Doster.
Mike Doster has been charged by police in Florida for allegedly repeatedly throwing his wife off a jet-ski the pair were riding. His wife was found alive on a sandbar, but later died of her injuries. It is reported that the pair had been arguing because his wife had caught him having sex with another man.
Sheargold and Blackwell create a fictional character named Phil, who they imagine was Doster’s male companion.
After outlining the case the duo invited listeners to call in asking, “If your man left you for you for a man, give us a call.”
On the podcast of the program, a woman named June calls up and shares her story of how her husband ‘came out’ after nineteen years of marriage and left her for a man. The pair ask June if the man her husband left her for was a long term family friend. June replied that she didn’t know the man but they had met when the couple had a holiday to the place where he lived.
June reflected that her husband would often take a long time to run errands like buying some milk and disappear for long periods of time.
Blackwell and Sheargold then comment that sometimes the corner shop doesn’t have the right kind of ‘milk’ and that you often need to walk further to find what you’re looking for. The duo then dramatise the callers husband meeting the fictional character of Phil, before launching into a rendition of the Kelis’ hit ‘Milkshake’.
OUTinPerth reader Zac (surname withheld by request) said he was shocked by the radio hosts approach.
“I was really shocked when they started asking the caller personal questions regarding cheating and infidelity. It wasn’t sympathetic or empathetic towards the caller either, it was poking fun. The caller sounded so nice and calm just simply wanted to share her story.
“They had to pry and make fun of a potentially very hurtful situation which could not only have bought up some bad memories for the caller, but also keep the ‘all gay guys are cheats’ and ‘all married closeted men sleep around throughout their entire marriage stereotype.”
Gary Roberts, Managing Director at NOVA 93.7 has told OUTinPerth that the station was not supportive of the content describing it as inappropriate. “It’s not who we are as a brand or people,” Roberts said.
The station immediately pulled the audio from it’s website once OUTinPerth brought it to their attention. Gary Roberts thanked the community members for bringing it to the managements attention.
The duo alongside former ‘Home and Away’ star Kate Ritchie, who was away on Tuesday, have become the top rating afternoon radio program in Melbourne and Sydney. Here in Perth their popularity trails behind MIX94.5’s afternoon team Lisa Shaw and Tim Lordan.
