BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Media Standards, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the BBC to transmit a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Confidence'
The authority's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the film's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the very considerable degrees of confidence that audiences would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
