Assholes of the Day award goes to Mel Greig, Michael Christian, and 2Day FM radio

London's King Edward VII hospital. Copyright AFP

These two people, who call themselves 'journalists' and 'radio DJs',  work for Australian radio station 2Day FM. They are the people who placed a hoax call two days ago to London's King Edward VII hospital, at which Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness.

In what is presumed to have been an attempt to land a cheap news scoop Greig, who was imitating the voice of the Queen, and Christian, who imitated that of Prince Charles, phoned the hospital just hours after Middleton was admitted and Greig asked receptionist Jacintha Saldanha to put her through to "my granddaughter Kate". Saldanha asked her to hold on and put her through to a duty nurse, who supplied her with intimate medical details about the duchess in a conversation lasting several minutes.

Jacintha Saldanha was found dead at her home today, and the latest news is that police are treating her death as suicide. It is strongly suspected that her decision to take her own life stemmed from her regret over her decision to accept the call as genuine.

As for 2Day FM, it has previous form in this area and is said to be already serving two five-year licence probations after serious breaches of the regulator's code, that which reveals their pathetic excuses and temporary dropping of Greig and Christian to be no more than mealy-mouthed cynical humbug.

So Greig, Christian and 2Day FM got their cheap scoop after all, at the expense of the priceless and irreplaceable life of a well-respected member of the nursing community.

I fervently hope and trust that the competent Australian media and other authorities shall announce that neither of these two irresponsible amateurs shall ever be permitted to be hired again by any media platform and that 2Day FM lose their licence to broadcast.

And I hope that that announcement comes very soon.