British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Regulations, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has directed the BBC to air a evening statement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's father occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the very considerable degrees of trust that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's familial connections came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the corporation's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
