UK radio broke rules in announcing king’s death — Official

The UK's broadcasting watchdog, Ofcom, has ruled that a community radio station, Radio Caroline, breached regulations when it accidentally announced the death of King Charles III during a May broadcast. The station, which now primarily plays rock music, apologized for airing messages falsely claiming the monarch's passing. One of these messages stated: “We have suspended our normal programmes until further notice as a mark of respect following the passing of His Majesty King Charles III.”

The national anthem followed, and there was approximately 16 minutes of silence before the regular programming resumed. The presenter issued an apology 30 minutes after the messages were initially broadcast. Ofcom received two complaints about the broadcast and determined that the “very significant inaccuracy” and the “considerable length of time” taken to acknowledge the error violated two of its rules.

These rules stipulate that news reports must be accurate and impartial, and significant mistakes must be acknowledged and corrected on air promptly. Radio Caroline acknowledged the error occurred when a staff member accessed pre-recorded sound files intended for use in the case of the monarch’s death while performing maintenance on the studio computer.

The staff member played the files out of curiosity and inadvertently broadcast them on air. After realizing their mistake, the individual left the premises. Radio Caroline reported that the person who played the files had been reprimanded and apologized. They also stated that the pre-recorded files had been removed from the studio computer.