A radio station in the UK announced the death of King Charles III after a staff member played pre-recorded audio files “out of curiosity”.
Radio Caroline has been found in breach of broadcasting rules after the recordings were played during the Barry Marsh Show in May, prompting listeners to believe the King had died. One of the recordings declared: “We have suspended our normal programmes until further notice as a mark of respect following the passing of His Majesty King Charles III.”
Ofcom, the UK's media watchdog, found that a member of staff working on maintenance at a studio computer had accessed the files and played them simply out of curiosity. The worker was apparently unaware that the recordings would be transmitted live. Once they realised what had happened, the employee stopped the files, “panicked and left the premises”. The false announcement was followed by the national anthem and approximately 16 minutes of silence before the presenter addressed listeners.
“I’ve just been informed that we’ve played in error some information a little earlier,” the presenter said. “I didn’t hear this myself, but it is incorrect, it’s a technical issue, and of course we apologise.” Ofcom received two complaints and ruled that Radio Caroline had breached broadcasting rules requiring news to be reported accurately and impartially, as well as rules requiring significant mistakes to be corrected quickly. The regulator described the incident as a “very significant inaccuracy” concerning an issue of “particular public importance”. Ofcom also criticised the station for taking around 30 minutes to issue an apology and clarification after the false announcement was first broadcast.
The Telegraph reported that the station was monitoring its output at the time and that an engineer was already aware of the problem, but said it took time to understand what had happened and restore the scheduled programme. Radio Caroline said it took the incident “very seriously” and had acted “as soon as possible”.
The staff member responsible was reprimanded and apologised, while the station removed the relevant recordings from the studio computer to prevent a repeat. Radio Caroline, which began life as a pirate radio station in the 1960s, remains one of the best-known names from Britain's offshore broadcasting era.
