U.K. radio station breaches rules after mistakenly announcing King Charles’ death
A U.K. radio station breached broadcasting rules by mistakenly announcing King Charles’ death. The country’s media regulator found the incident did not meet standards for accuracy or timely correction.
On May 19, Radio Caroline aired three prerecorded messages during The Barry Marsh Show, falsely claiming the monarch had died. These broadcasts interrupted regular programming and led to two complaints to Ofcom.
One message stated that “news media” had confirmed Charles’ death. The national anthem played, followed by a repeat of the statement. Approximately 16 minutes of silence aired before normal programming resumed (per People).
The host, broadcasting remotely and on a call at the time, did not immediately realize the error. About 30 minutes later, he informed listeners that the reports were false.
“I’ve just been informed that we’ve played in error some information a little earlier, I didn’t hear this myself, but it is incorrect, it’s a technical issue, and of course we apologize,” the host said.
Ofcom said in its August 10 bulletin that two Broadcasting Code rules had been breached. One says, “News, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality,” while the second notes, “Significant mistakes in news should normally be acknowledged and corrected on air quickly. Corrections should be appropriately scheduled.”
The station later explained that while the presenter worked remotely, a staff member performing studio computer maintenance found three files prepared for a possible broadcast about Charles’ death.
According to Ofcom’s bulletin, Radio Caroline “explained that these files are accompanied with ‘a set of strict instructions to presenters and managers’ to follow before being aired, but, out of curiosity, the member of staff played the files, which stopped the stream from the presenter’s remote location, and broadcast the files on air.”
After realizing the mistake, the employee stopped the broadcast and left the office. The host discovered the error, contacted a station engineer, and regular programming was restored.
Radio Caroline told Ofcom that it treated the incident seriously and that staff were working to resolve the situation during the 30 minutes before the apology. The station also said employees “acted as soon as they could.”
The staff member responsible was “reprimanded” and has since “apologized,” Radio Caroline told Ofcom. The station has since moved the files to an external hard drive and reminded presenters and other staff about “the relevant procedures” for handling such material.