British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Breach of Media Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's report said: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent held a post in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of trust that audiences would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review found it infringed the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the sanction as soon as the timing and language are determined."
