BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Regulations, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to transmit a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Erode Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement said: "Our probe determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the significantly high levels of trust that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the narrator's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
