BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Infringement of Media Rules, States Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose 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 inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to transmit a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the BBC to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's statement said: "Our probe concluded that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the risk to erode the very considerable levels of trust that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from the online platform in February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A corporation official stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
