British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the BBC to air a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Confidence'
The authority's statement stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to erode the significantly high levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
