Morality and the Kate Middleton Prank Call Tragedy

Cal Thomas | Syndicated Columnist | Updated: Dec 13, 2012

Morality and the Kate Middleton Prank Call Tragedy

By now you've heard the story of the British nurse who was duped into giving information about Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, while she was in the hospital suffering from severe morning sickness. Two Australian disc jockeys impersonating Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth called and managed to get private information from the nurse.

The nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, a mother of two, was later found dead. Police believe she committed suicide.

The station manager held a news conference saying how deeply shocked and saddened the announcers were, but then he seemed to justify their antics by saying this sort of thing happens all over the world all the time.

Is this the new morality: Others do it, so we should be able to, too? If someone dies, do we just issue a statement and go on with the format because it brings listeners? America has its own bunch of shock jocks, led by Howard Stern, but he's not alone and his genre goes back a generation or two.

The Australian DJs were fired and rightly so, though it took a while. In our age of political correctness, not much can get you in trouble. This did.

In Singapore, I'm Cal Thomas.

Publication date: December 13, 2012



Morality and the Kate Middleton Prank Call Tragedy