Channel 4 News has been reprimanded by Ofcom over its reporting of the Shoreham air show crash.
On its August 24 broadcast at 7pm, presented by Cathy Newman, a reporter stated that two people - Mark Trussler and Daniele Polito - were victims of the crash, when they had only officially been named as missing at the time.
Ofcom found Channel 4 News in breach of Rule 5.1 of the Code, which states that "news, in whatever form, must be reported with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality".
They noted that they had taken into account Channel 4's apology for the incident and the attempts it made to contact the families involved. However, since the news item was pre-recorded, "Channel 4 could and should have identified the error before broadcast".
"It is essential that such events are reported with due accuracy. Ofcom considered the broadcast of the statement in a news item that two people had died without appropriate confirmation was a significant lapse in editorial judgement," the ruling stated.
The decision means that Channel 4 News has been found in breach of Rule 5.1 on three recent occasions and Ofcom is requesting that "the Licensee attend a meeting to discuss its compliance in this area".
Ofcom has also this week told off Channel 4 for airing a Simpsons episode that featured Homer hanging from a noose.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
