BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's statement stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its public, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the risk to damage the very considerable degrees of credibility that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
