BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Regulations, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has directed the corporation to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to transmit a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Confidence'
The authority's announcement stated: "Our investigation determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the narrator's parent served in a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the public did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the core of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong levels of trust that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and language are confirmed."
