British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Breach of Media Rules, Says Ofcom
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to air a prime-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The authority's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-administered administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the core of the bond between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the possibility to undermine the significantly high levels of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of the internal assessment, 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 regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
