A worker at an English radio station that erroneously declared King Charles III dead gave a bizarre explanation for airing the bogus report, the UK’s media watchdog found.
According to the telecoms regulator Ofcom, an employee at Radio Caroline played the pre-recorded announcement of the King’s death out of curiosity on May 19, nin.com.au reported.
The employee had found the files while carrying out maintenance on a studio computer and clicked on them – not realizing that they’d be broadcast live on the air, the watchdog said.
The worker then “panicked and left the premises” of the station after realizing they’d accidentally blared false reports of the King’s death, according to Ofcom.
After the worker played the file, the station interrupted its programming to play the false announcement of the King’s passing.
“The news media has confirmed that his Majesty King Charles III has passed away. Consequently as a mark of respect, Radio Caroline is suspending its normal programmes,” the broadcast announced at the time.
The station then played a rendition of “God Save the King”: in honor of the royal’s “passing,” before it went silent for 16 minutes.
It was about half hour after the initial announcement was made that a presenter clarified that the King was, in fact, not dead, Ofcom said.
“I’ve just been informed that we’ve played in error some information a little earlier,” the presenter said.
“I didn’t hear this myself, but it is incorrect, it’s a technical issue, and of course we apologise.”
King Charles was seen – very much alive – interacting with crowds while on a trip in Northern Ireland not too long after the announcement was made.
Ofcom said that the “significant inaccuracy” was of “particular public importance” and criticized the station for the time it took to correct the error.
Radio Caroline said that they took “the matter very seriously,” reprimanding the worker who’d made the mistake, and that they had acted “as soon as possible” once they realized the false announcement was made.
The pre-recorded files announcing the King’s death were removed from the computer after the accidental broadcast, the radio station said.
