[REVISION HISTORY]

Radio Caroline false King Charles III death broadcast

Updated 2 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-12 20:07 UTC → 2026-08-14 13:41 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Radio Caroline mistakenly broadcasted false reports claiming the death of King Charles III during ‘The Barry Marsh Show’. The error occurred when a staff member performing maintenance on a studio computer accessed and played pre-recorded obituary files ‘out of curiosity’. The broadcast included three messages stating programming was suspended, the national anthem, and approximately 16 minutes of silence. The UK media regulator, Ofcom, ruled that the station breached broadcasting rules regarding news accuracy, impartiality, and the requirement to quickly correct significant errors. Ofcom noted that a correction was not issued until roughly 30 minutes after the initial error, characterizing the incident as a ‘very significant inaccuracy’ concerning a matter of ‘very high public interest’. An investigation by Ofcom detailed that the employee, who interrupted the live broadcast of a remote presenter, reportedly ‘panicked and left the premises immediately’ after realizing the mistake. In response to the incident, the station apologized, ~~reprimanded~~ issued a formal warning to the staff member, and updated its procedures, such as moving sensitive files to external drives to prevent future occurrences.

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