Shot to the Head

Source

The nurse attending the Duchess of Cambridge who was pranked by DJs in a phone call has committed suicide.

One comment on the topic that I read would have it that "The people responsible for it never dreamed it would end so tragically or they wouldn’t have done it."

The conduct of the DJs was reckless; supposing they would have acted better if they could have anticipated the outcome of their prank assumes motives that the perpetrators never displayed, but in charity one could give them the benefit of the doubt.

The call to the hospital was of minor import. What matters far more is the international coverage that exposed the nurse to public humiliation in front of billions of souls around the world. In a Christian age she might have been able to unite her humiliation with that of Christ and so endured, but the modern appetite no longer tolerates such eccentricities.

In any event, the DJs -- armed with the tools of modern mass media -- are akin to irresponsible teenagers playing with loaded guns. Did they intend to shoot their chum in the face? Of course not; they're still catalysts for what comes of their behavior.

Driving people to despair, however, is a form of modern recreation; I expect any consequences for the actors to be relatively minor.