How
the
false
Ki g
Cha les
death
epo ts
we t
o
ai
Ki g
Cha les’
death
was
falsely
a ou ced
o
a
U.K.
adio
statio
i
May
afte
p e- eco ded
epo ts
claimi g
the
mo a ch
had
died
we e
mistake ly
b oadcast,
p ompti g
the
cou t y’s
media
egulato
Ofcom
to
ule
that
the
statio
had
b eached
b oadcast
sta da ds.Radio
Ca oli e
ai ed
th ee
p e- eco ded
stateme ts
claimi g
that
Ki g
Cha les,
77,
had
died
du i g
The
Ba y
Ma sh
Show
o
May
19.
The
epo ts
i te upted
the
statio ’s
egula
music
p og ammi g
a d
led
to
two
complai ts
bei g
filed
with
Ofcom.
Ki g
Cha les
death
epo t
followed
by
atio al
a them
Acco di g
to
Ofcom’s
epo t,
the
thi d
stateme t
claimed
that
“ ews
media”
had
co fi med
Ki g
Cha les’
death.
The
atio al
a them
was
the
played,
followed
by
a othe
ai i g
of
o e
of
the
stateme ts.The
b oadcast
was
subseque tly
followed
by
a ou d
16
mi utes
of
sile ce
befo e
egula
p og ammi g
esumed.App oximately
30
mi utes
afte
the
false
epo ts
ai ed,
the
show’s
host
apologized
to
liste e s
a d
cla ified
that
Ki g
Cha les
was
ot
dead.“I’ve
just
bee
i fo med
that
we’ve
played
i
e o
some
i fo matio
a
little
ea lie ,
I
did ’t
hea
this
myself,
but
it
is
i co ect,
it’s
a
tech ical
issue,
a d
of
cou se
we
apologize,”
the
host
said.
Ofcom
says
Radio
Ca oli e
b eached
two
ules
I
its
bulleti
published
o
Mo day,
August
10,
Ofcom
said
Radio
Ca oli e
had
b eached
two
ules
u de
the
B oadcasti g
Code.O e
ule
states
that
ews,
i
whateve
fo m,
must
be
epo ted
with
due
accu acy
a d
p ese ted
with
due
impa tiality.
A othe
equi es
sig ifica t
mistakes
i
ews
to
o mally
be
ack owledged
a d
co ected
o
ai
quickly,
with
co ectio s
app op iately
scheduled.Ofcom
co cluded
that
the
statio
failed
to
meet
the
equi ed
sta da ds
by
b oadcasti g
the
i accu ate
epo ts
a d
ot
co ecti g
the
e o
quickly
e ough.
How
the
false
Ki g
Cha les
death
epo ts
we t
o
ai
Radio
Ca oli e
told
Ofcom
that
The
Ba y
Ma sh
Show
was
bei g
st eamed
f om
a
emote
locatio
whe
the
i cide t
occu ed.A
staff
membe
was
epo tedly
ca yi g
out
mai te a ce
o
a
studio
compute
whe
they
discove ed
th ee
files
co tai i g
p e- eco ded
stateme ts
p epa ed
fo
use
i
the
eve t
of
Ki g
Cha les’
death.The
files
came
with
“a
set
of
st ict
i st uctio s
to
p ese te s
a d
ma age s”
ega di g
thei
use.
Howeve ,
the
staff
membe
epo tedly
played
the
files
“out
of
cu iosity”.This
i te upted
the
st eam
f om
the
p ese te ’s
emote
locatio
a d
esulted
i
the
death
a ou ceme ts
bei g
b oadcast
o
ai .
Host
did
ot
i itially
ealize
what
had
happe ed
Afte
ealizi g
the
mistake,
the
staff
membe
stopped
the
files
a d
left
the
office.
The
show’s
host,
who
was
o
a
call
at
the
time,
did
ot
immediately
otice
that
the
false
epo ts
had
bee
b oadcast.O ce
he
ealized
that
a
i co ect
p og amme
was
bei g
st eamed,
he
co tacted
a
statio
e gi ee .
The
e gi ee
was
al eady
awa e
of
the
i cide t
a d
was
i vestigati g
what
had
happe ed.The
statio
the
switched
back
to
its
egula
p og ammi g.Radio
Ca oli e
told
Ofcom
that
it
took
the
i cide t
“ve y
se iously”
a d
that
co side able
activity
took
place
du i g
the
oughly
30
mi utes
leadi g
up
to
the
apology.
The
statio
said
its
staff
acted
“as
soo
as
they
could”.
Staff
membe
ep ima ded
Radio
Ca oli e
told
Ofcom
that
the
staff
membe
who
played
the
i co ect
files
was
ep ima ded
a d
had
si ce
apologized.The
statio
has
also
moved
the
p e- eco ded
files
to
a
exte al
ha d
d ive.
P ese te s
a d
staff
we e
additio ally
emi ded
of
the
p ocedu es
su ou di g
the
use
of
such
mate ial.The
false
b oadcast
came
at
a
time
whe
Ki g
Cha les
emai s
the
eig i g
mo a ch
of
the
U ited
Ki gdom.
