Radio Caroline don find demsef for trouble with Ofcom, di broadcasting watchdog for UK. Dem don rule say di station breach broadcasting rules after e mistakenly announce say King Charles III don die.
Di mistake happen on 19 May during Barry Marsh Show. Di station air three pre-recorded announcements wey falsely claim say King don die. Di messages even talk say di ‘news media’ don confirm am. After dat, dem play national anthem and silence for 16 minutes on DAB+. For AM listeners, dem hear back-up music instead.
Ofcom say di staff member wey accidentally play di files come stop am as soon as e realise wetin e do. But e come panic and leave di premises. Di watchdog talk say di incident breach Rule 5.1, wey require make news report with due accuracy, and Rule 5.2, wey say make dem correct significant mistakes quickly.
For dia ruling, Ofcom describe di false announcement as ‘very significant inaccuracy’ for mata wey get ‘very high public interest’. E say di mistake happen because one staff member wey dey do maintenance access pre-recorded obituary files. Dem no suppose play dem, but dem play am ‘out of curiosity’. Dis one cut off di presenter remote stream and put di announcements on air.
Radio Caroline explain say di presenter no realise say dem don go off air. According to di station, e dey stream di programme remotely, wey be common practice. So unless di presenter dey monitor dia output via internet monitor, e no go know. Di station director bin dey monitor AM output but e bin dey on call when di false announcement broadcast. E only notice when e hear continuous music instead of di scheduled programme. E come contact di engineer, wey already dey investigate.
Dem make brief apology, and di presenter talk say di earlier information na ‘incorrect’ and e come from ‘a technical issue’. Radio Caroline say dem take di matter very seriously and dem act as soon as possible. Di staff member wey involved don receive reprimand, and dem move di obituary files comot from di studio desktop so dat e no go happen again.
Ofcom say dem receive only two complaints about di incident. Radio Caroline also note say di station na 100% volunteer-led and e no get di resources of bigger broadcasters. Di station get long history. Dem found am for 1964 as offshore pirate station, and dem broadcast from ship until 1991 when e shipwreck off Kent coast. Today, di station still dey based off north-east Essex coast, though many presenters dey broadcast dia shows remotely.
