British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, States Ofcom
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to air a evening announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The authority's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-administered authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the voice and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that the public would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the corporation's content policies on factual correctness.
A corporation official commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
