By Emmanuel Nduka
A UK community radio station has been found to have breached broadcasting rules after it mistakenly announced the death of King Charles III during a May broadcast, the country’s media regulator, Ofcom, has said.
Radio Caroline, a former pirate station that now primarily broadcasts rock music, accidentally aired pre-recorded messages falsely announcing that the monarch had died.
The broadcast included a message stating: “We have suspended our normal programmes until further notice as a mark of respect following the passing of His Majesty King Charles III.”
The announcement was followed by the national anthem and approximately 16 minutes of silence before the station returned to its regular programming.
Ofcom said the presenter apologised about 30 minutes after the false announcement was initially broadcast.
The regulator, which received two complaints about the incident, ruled that the broadcast contained a “very significant inaccuracy” and that the delay in acknowledging the mistake breached broadcasting rules.
Under Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code, news reports must be accurate and impartial, while significant mistakes must be acknowledged and corrected on air promptly.
Radio Caroline told the regulator that the incident was caused by a staff member accessing sound files that had been pre-recorded for use in the event of the King’s death.
The files were accessed while the employee was carrying out maintenance on a studio computer as the station’s programme was being broadcast remotely.
According to Ofcom, the staff member played the files “out of curiosity”, unintentionally interrupting the remote broadcast and putting the death announcement on air.
The employee reportedly panicked after realising what had happened and left the premises.
The station explained that because the programme was being presented remotely, the presenter would not necessarily have known that the broadcast had been interrupted unless they were monitoring the station’s output through an internet monitor.
The presenter, believing the programme was still running normally, was not actively monitoring their phone and therefore did not immediately respond to calls from colleagues who had noticed the error.
Radio Caroline said the staff member responsible for triggering the files had been reprimanded and had apologised.
The station has since removed the pre-recorded death announcement files from the studio computer.
Ofcom’s ruling highlights the potential consequences of broadcasting inaccurate information concerning highly sensitive events, particularly the death of a reigning monarch, where false reports can rapidly cause public confusion and alarm.
