BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to transmit a evening announcement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The regulator's announcement stated: "Our probe found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the narrator's father held a role in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.
"This implied that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong degrees of trust that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was removed from the online platform in last February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in July an internal BBC review found it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance 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 aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
