BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a evening statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the corporation to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The authority's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a television network and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the significantly high degrees of trust that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
