Radio Caroline has been found in breach of broadcasting rules
after mistakenly announcing the death of King Charles III while the
monarch remains alive.
The ruling by media watchdog Ofcom follows an extraordinary
incident on 19 May, when the station accidentally broadcast three
pre-recorded announcements claiming that the King had died.
The announcements, which were aired during the Barry Marsh Show,
stated that the “news media” had confirmed Charles’s death.
The false reports were then followed by the playing of the
national anthem and 16 minutes of silence on the station’s DAB+
service.
Listeners to Radio Caroline’s AM service instead heard back-up
music.
A correction and apology was broadcast around 30 minutes later
after the station realised what had happened.
Ofcom has now ruled that the incident breached two of its
broadcasting rules.
Rule 5.1 requires broadcasters to report news with due accuracy,
while Rule 5.2 requires significant mistakes to be corrected
quickly.
The regulator described the announcement of the King’s death as
a “very significant inaccuracy” concerning a matter of “very high
public interest”.
The incident occurred when a member of staff carrying out
maintenance accessed pre-recorded obituary files which had been
prepared for use in the event of the King’s death.
According to Ofcom, the files were played “out of curiosity”,
accidentally cutting off the presenter’s remotely streamed
programme and putting the obituary announcements on air.
The staff member realised what had happened and stopped the
broadcast before reportedly panicking and leaving the premises.
Radio Caroline explained that the presenter did not initially
realise that the programme had gone off air because they were
broadcasting remotely.
The station said presenters would not necessarily know they had
been disconnected unless they were monitoring the station’s output
through an internet monitor.
The station director was also unaware of the incident initially
because he was on a telephone call while monitoring the station’s
AM output.
He became aware that something was wrong after hearing
continuous music rather than the scheduled programme and contacted
an engineer, who was already investigating the incident.
Radio Caroline subsequently broadcast an apology, with the
presenter explaining that the earlier information had been
incorrect and attributing the incident to a “technical issue”.
The station told Ofcom that it took the matter “very seriously”
and acted “as soon as possible”.
The employee responsible was reprimanded following the incident,
while the obituary files have since been removed from the studio
desktop to prevent the same mistake from happening again.
Radio Caroline also pointed out that only two complaints were
received by Ofcom and stressed that it is a “100% volunteer-led”
operation without the resources available to larger
broadcasters.
The station has a long and unusual history in British
broadcasting.
Radio Caroline was founded in 1964 as an offshore pirate radio
station, broadcasting from ships in international waters in an
attempt to circumvent Britain’s broadcasting restrictions.
It continued broadcasting from a ship for decades before its
vessel was shipwrecked off the Kent coast in 1991.
Today, Radio Caroline continues to broadcast, with its
operations based off the north-east Essex coast and many of its
presenters hosting programmes remotely.
The incident nevertheless provided a remarkable reminder of the
care required when preparing contingency material for the death of
a monarch.
With the Royal Family’s major broadcasters and institutions
maintaining detailed plans for the eventual death of King Charles,
obituary material is routinely prepared in advance.
In this case, however, material intended for an eventual moment
of national significance was accidentally broadcast while the King
remains very much alive.
