BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Infringement of Media Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the BBC to air a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Possibility to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's report said: "Our probe found that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent occupied a role in the Hamas-run administration was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the online platform in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it breached the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error 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 expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
