BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to air a peak-time declaration about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's announcement stated: "Our probe found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the very considerable amounts of confidence that the public would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's family links were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
