BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to air a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a schedule to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's report declared: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high levels of credibility that audiences would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was removed from iPlayer in February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the organization's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."