ONE OF THE Australian DJs involved in the prank-call to a London hospital that revealed details about Kate Middleton’s pregnant condition, and which had tragic consequences when a nurse committed suicide has been named as ‘Top Jock’ by his radio bosses.
Michael Christian and former co-host Mel Greig, made the phone call to London’s King Edward VII Hospital in December pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
Jacintha Saldanha was the nurse that transferred the call from the DJs to a colleague who gave away details about the Duchess of Cambridge’s severe morning sickness.
Southern Cross Austereo awarded Christian the prize as part of a company-wide ‘Next Top Jock’ competition that pits on-air jocks from the Today Network all around Australia against each other for weekly points to determine who would be crowned the best in the land.
Christian, who now presents a morning show alone on Melbourne’s Fox FM, has won a trip to LA.
In a statement on the company’s website, he hinted at the incident in his acceptance of the prize
“From the start I felt like I had something to prove to myself,” he said. ”That regardless of all that’s happened in the past few months I’m still at the top of my game. So it felt good to see my name at the top of the final leader board.”
Australia’s Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the award was in poor taste given the circumstances.
“I think there’s a bit of bad taste involved there,” he told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Wednesday.
“There were some very serious consequences of what was a prank, and to be seen to be rewarding people so soon after such an event, I think, is just in bad taste.”
- Additional reporting © AFP, 2013
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