BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Media Regulations, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's announcement stated: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent held a post in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the very considerable levels of trust that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's family links emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
