BBC Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a evening announcement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's announcement declared: "Our probe found that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's father occupied a position in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the potential to undermine the significantly high amounts of confidence that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the narrator's family links came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
