BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Breach of Media Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas official, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe 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 already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a evening declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our rules, we are ordering the BBC to air a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Risk to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of trust that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
