Official News of Luciano Pavarotti’s Death Broken by Text Message   - 2,975 Views,

The news that famed and beloved Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti had died this evening rocked the world. But what went almost unnoticed - in fact unknown for many - was that the news was broken not by a press conference or press release - not by telephone from his bedside - not by telegram - not even by email - but.. by SMS text message.

Now, call us old fashioned, but when one of the world’s greatest treasures - one of the great artists - one of the 3 tenors - when Luciano Pavarotti passes away, doesn’t he deserve a little more respect than to have the news broken in such an offhand manner as a telephone SMS message?

I mean, if for some reason they couldn’t issue a formal statement to the press, which is what usually would be the protocol, couldn’t his assistant at least have picked up a telephone and made a call, rather than texting to Reuters “Luciano Pavarotti died one hour ago”?

In any event, let us take a moment to remember and mourn the passing of a great man.

And then take another moment to mourn the passing of all manner and etiquette, as we sink further into a world made casual, flip, and flippant, by the ease of casual communication.