BBC Defends “Sensitive” Reporting On King Charles’ Cancer After Viewers Complain Of Coverage Overkill

The BBC has defended its reporting on King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis after audience members complained that the UK broadcaster was devoting too much coverage to the health scare.

The BBC said that its output on King Charles had been sensitive after he released a statement last Monday revealing that he was being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. Viewers took issue with the volume of output after the story broke at the top of a 6PM BBC News bulletin.

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“As head of state, King Charles’ diagnosis with cancer is a story of significance which has generated national and global interest,” the BBC said.

“We have offered analysis of the potential constitutional implications and looked at the challenges facing the King and wider royal family. Though we reported in detail on this story as it broke, examining the broader considerations, we continued to report on other stories of national and international importance.”

“As our coverage reflected, the statement released by Buckingham Palace was unprecedented in terms of the level of detail it revealed about the health of a British monarch; as the Palace explained, one of the reasons the King wanted to be open about his diagnosis was to help raise awareness about the disease.”

The BBC added: “We fully appreciate that this is a difficult time for the King and his family, and that this is a story that will resonate with many people. We have and will continue to be mindful to approach our reporting with sensitivity.”

It is not uncommon for the BBC to get audience complaints about the volume of coverage it dedicates to the royal family. The corporation received a record 109,741 complaints over its wall-to-wall output on Prince Philip’s death in 2021.

Earlier this year, the BBC received almost 900 complaints about the documentary, Charles III: The Coronation Year, being “bias in favor of the monarchy.”

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