BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a peak-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be confirmed," it said.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's report stated: "Our investigation found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's father served in a post in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the organization's content policies on truthfulness.
A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
