King Charles’ death falsely announced, followed by national anthem and 16 minutes of silence; UK radio station breached broadcast standards
King Charles’ death was falsely announced on a U.K. radio station in May after pre-recorded reports claiming the monarch had died were mistakenly broadcast, prompting the country’s media regulator Ofcom to rule that the station had breached broadcast standards.Radio Caroline aired three pre-recorded statements claiming that King Charles, 77, had died during The Barry Marsh Show on May 19. The reports interrupted the station’s regular music programming and led to two complaints being filed with Ofcom.
King Charles death report followed by national anthem
According to Ofcom’s report, the third statement claimed that “news media” had confirmed King Charles’ death. The national anthem was then played, followed by another airing of one of the statements.The broadcast was subsequently followed by around 16 minutes of silence before regular programming resumed.Approximately 30 minutes after the false reports aired, the show’s host apologized to listeners and clarified that King Charles was not dead.“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 says Radio Caroline breached two rules
In its bulletin published on Monday, August 10, Ofcom said Radio Caroline had breached two rules under the Broadcasting Code.One rule states that news, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality. Another requires significant mistakes in news to normally be acknowledged and corrected on air quickly, with corrections appropriately scheduled.Ofcom concluded that the station failed to meet the required standards by broadcasting the inaccurate reports and not correcting the error quickly enough.
How the false King Charles death reports went on air
Radio Caroline told Ofcom that The Barry Marsh Show was being streamed from a remote location when the incident occurred.A staff member was reportedly carrying out maintenance on a studio computer when they discovered three files containing pre-recorded statements prepared for use in the event of King Charles’ death.The files came with “a set of strict instructions to presenters and managers” regarding their use. However, the staff member reportedly played the files “out of curiosity”.This interrupted the stream from the presenter’s remote location and resulted in the death announcements being broadcast on air.
Host did not initially realize what had happened
After realizing the mistake, the staff member stopped the files and left the office. The show’s host, who was on a call at the time, did not immediately notice that the false reports had been broadcast.Once he realized that an incorrect programme was being streamed, he contacted a station engineer. The engineer was already aware of the incident and was investigating what had happened.The station then switched back to its regular programming.Radio Caroline told Ofcom that it took the incident “very seriously” and that considerable activity took place during the roughly 30 minutes leading up to the apology. The station said its staff acted “as soon as they could”.
Staff member reprimanded
Radio Caroline told Ofcom that the staff member who played the incorrect files was reprimanded and had since apologized.The station has also moved the pre-recorded files to an external hard drive. Presenters and staff were additionally reminded of the procedures surrounding the use of such material.The false broadcast came at a time when King Charles remains the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.
