BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Media Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Confidence'
The authority's statement said: "Our probe found that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a television network and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of credibility that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
