BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to transmit a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent served in a position in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
