BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Media Rules, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to air a evening statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the voice and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the core of the connection between a television network and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the significantly high amounts of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the organization's content policies on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are determined."
