Australia

Suicides think about it for weeks, months, even years before they ever do anything about it. The inquest may bring to light other things going on in her life that brought her to that stage, but she was probably already fragile and finally reached her tipping point.

That doesn't absolve the station at all - even before the apparent suicide (it isn't proven yet), I thought the "prank" was childish and stupid. It's hard to believe that people get paid to come up with stunts like that. And no, I don't believe for a minute that they tried to clear the broadcast with the hospital, given that it took them nearly a week to "remember" that they'd tried to call.

The Brits are all too quick to pin all the blame on the Aussies involved, but there are questions that need to be explored at their end too:

Why wasn't there a protocol in place to deal with such calls, given that royals have been staying at that hospital over the past seventy years? Surely there are many times when journos try to get information, and such calls should be put through to a senior staffer immediately. Nurses shouldn't have to make decisions on what calls are genuine and what are not.

What level of support did the nurses receive from the hospital management? It's an even bet that their first thought would be not to lose royal patronage. I've lived in England, and they kowtow to royals in a way that very few do here, and the higher up the social scale they are, the more they grovel. They say they supported the nurses, yet the husband of Jacintha Saldanha has said they never received so much as a phone call after her death. I'll bet she didn't get much from them while she was alive, either.

What role did the British media play in tipping Jacintha Saldanha over the edge? They never let up, beating up the story for all it was worth - until she died. Then it was all the fault of those upstart Aussies. Sure, the station is culpable, and we all know their track record to date re Kyle Sandilands, but the British media played their part, to the hilt.

One thing seems to be clear from this, following on all we've learned through the Leveson enquiry - the media can't be trusted to regulate themselves; not here, not anywhere.