BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Violation of Media Standards, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the corporation to air a evening declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Confidence'
The regulator's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong levels of trust that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in last February after the boy's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and language are determined."
