BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Rules, Says Ofcom
The BBC committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has directed the BBC to transmit a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement said: "Our probe determined that the film's failure to disclose that the narrator's father served in a position in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of trust that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was pulled from the online platform in February after the narrator's family links emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it infringed the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
