Is this what the Swedes mean by a news flash?

SWEDEN'S state broadcaster, SVT, faced ridicule yesterday after mistakenly showing a pornographic film in the background of a news broadcast.

Viewers watching a five-minute bulletin at midnight on Saturday could see explicit scenes from a Czech blue movie on a TV screen behind the newsreader, Peter Dahlgren.

The monitor - one of many on the wall of a control room visible behind the studio - normally shows other news channels during broadcasts.

But staff who had earlier watched a sports event on the cable channel Canal Plus, which often shows X-rated films after midnight, had forgotten to switch it back, Per Yng, SVT's news director, said.

"This is highly embarrassing and unfortunate," he said. "It must not happen again."

A producer quickly spotted the sex scenes and ran into the control room and turned off the monitor, Mr Yng said.

He said there had been no complaints from viewers about the mishap, but "enormous interest from media".

Swedish newspapers yesterday poked fun at the programme, changing its name from Rapport to "Rapporn".

Magnus Akerlund, who oversees the hourly news updates, told one paper he was "shocked and dismayed" at the mistake. "It's a huge blunder by us," he said.