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Nothing funny about this ‘prank’

We all know the Internet is a place that breeds bad behaviour. So perhaps it’s no surprise that a vile “comedy” routine of shouting a sexist, degrading phrase at female reporters while they are live on air has been spread there.

We all know the Internet is a place that breeds bad behaviour.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that a vile “comedy” routine of shouting a sexist, degrading phrase at female reporters while they are live on air has been spread there.

Last week, the tide turned when reporter Shauna Hunt confronted a group of these MENSA candidates as they taunted her. Cameras rolling, Hunt told them how disrespectful and demeaning it was. Then she posted it on social media.

Consequences for the now-outed Neanderthals have been swift.

One highly paid manager lost his job, which we applaud mainly because it spares his female co-workers from having to share a workspace with his knuckle-dragging misogyny.

Good on Hunt for doing something to make this behaviour stop.

It’s a sad reflection on society that grown men feel they can act this way in public with impunity.

These “pranks” target women with sexual vulgarities as they try to do their jobs. The message is: “Your work doesn’t matter.” The message is: “shut up.”

When Hunt didn’t turn the cameras off, the men behind this stunt got a lesson that should be obvious to anyone over the age of 10: if you’re tempted to say something you wouldn’t want your boss or mother to hear, something that would out you as a misogynist jerk, don’t say it when the TV cameras are rolling.

Or better yet, put on your big boy pants, check your moral compass and don’t say it at all.

– Guest editorial from the North Shore News