BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Media Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," it said.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The authority's announcement stated: "Our probe found that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's father occupied a role in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the narrator's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, 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 Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and language are determined."
