British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Media Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC committed a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has ordered the broadcaster to air a evening statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to air a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's report said: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the programme's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-run government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the information he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
