BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Breach of Media Regulations, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the BBC to air a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "Our probe found that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the very considerable degrees of confidence that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
