BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Significant' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, States UK Media Regulator
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our probe found that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high amounts of credibility that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
