BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Rules, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to air a prime-time declaration about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our rules, we are ordering the corporation to broadcast a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Trust'
The authority's announcement said: "Our probe determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong degrees of confidence that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
