BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Media Rules, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The regulator's statement declared: "Our probe found that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's father occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the information he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a television network and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the potential to damage the very considerable degrees of trust that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
