BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Media Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Possibility to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our investigation found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of confidence that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
