BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has instructed the corporation to air a evening announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the BBC to broadcast a statement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Damage Credibility'
The regulator's report stated: "Our probe determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's father held a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the information he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the potential to undermine the very considerable amounts of trust that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the online platform in last February after the boy's family links emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
