BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Media Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into 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, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has ordered the BBC to transmit a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the BBC to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Possibility to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's father served in a role in the Hamas-controlled administration was materially misleading.
"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the voice and the details he presented.
"Confidence is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high levels of confidence that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's family links emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
