British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Serious' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules 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 probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time statement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our probe concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the narrator's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the authority's determination in complete. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are determined."
