Radio Caroline has been found to have breached Ofcom rules after accidentally announcing the death of King Charles in May. The incident occurred on the Barry Marsh Show, where listeners were shocked to hear that His Majesty had died.
Messages played during the daytime show included one 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 around 16 minutes of silence before the presenter apologized for the mishap.
Apology and Ofcom Ruling
The presenter said: “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 apologise.”
An Ofcom ruling noted that once the presenter realized the error, he stopped the files and “panicked and left the premises”. The regulator received two complaints about the broadcast, stating it breached rules 5.1 (news must be reported accurately and impartially) and 5.2 (mistakes must be acknowledged and corrected on air quickly).
Station Response
Ofcom said: “We considered this to have been a very significant inaccuracy about an issue of particular public importance. As outlined above, Radio Caroline did not broadcast an apology and clarification until approximately 30 minutes after the inaccurate announcements were first broadcast.”
Radio Caroline said the files containing the messages came with “a set of strict instructions to presenters and managers” to follow before playing them, but a staff member played them out of curiosity. The station said it “took the matter very seriously” and acted “as soon as possible”. The staff member was “reprimanded” and “apologised”, and the files were removed from the studio computer desktop. Presenters and support staff were reminded of relevant procedures.
