BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to broadcast a evening announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our probe found that the film's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong amounts of credibility that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
