BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Media Regulations, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled 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 significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the BBC to transmit a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our probe found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the presenter's father served in a post in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that viewers would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was pulled from iPlayer in February after the boy's family links came to light, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
