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🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan /Culture & Society

Radio Caroline breached standards after airing false report of King Charles's death

From 24.kg · () Russian

Translated from Russian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Radio Caroline mistakenly broadcast pre-recorded news of King Charles's death on May 19.
  • The broadcast included a false report that media had confirmed the king's death, followed by the national anthem and silence.
  • The UK's media regulator, Ofcom, found the station violated broadcasting standards due to the inaccurate news report.

Radio Caroline has been found to have breached broadcasting standards after mistakenly airing pre-recorded news of King Charles's death. The incident occurred on May 19 during "The Barry Marsh Show," when a staff member, out of curiosity, played three prerecorded files intended for use in the event of the monarch's passing.

I have just been informed that we mistakenly played some information a little earlier. I didn't hear it personally, but the news is incorrect. It's a technical problem and of course we apologize.

— Radio hostThe host's apology to listeners after the mistaken broadcast.

These recordings, which included a false claim that "media had confirmed" the king's death, interrupted the regular music program. Following the erroneous announcement, the British national anthem was played, leading to approximately 16 minutes of silence. The show eventually resumed its normal schedule, with the host later apologizing to listeners for the "technical problem" and assuring them that the information about the king's death was incorrect.

Ofcom's investigation, detailed in a bulletin released on August 10, concluded that Radio Caroline violated two rules of the Broadcasting Code. One rule mandates that "news, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality." The second rule states that "significant errors in news should be corrected as soon as possible."

news, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality.

— OfcomOne of the broadcasting rules violated by Radio Caroline.

Radio Caroline explained that the employee in the studio was performing computer maintenance and discovered the files. Despite "strict instructions" for handling such recordings, the employee activated them out of curiosity. This action cut off the live broadcast from the presenter's remote location, causing the prerecorded content to go to air. The station's engineer was already aware of the incident and investigating its cause when the presenter noticed the error.

significant errors in news should be corrected as soon as possible.

— OfcomAnother broadcasting rule violated by Radio Caroline.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by 24.kg in Russian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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