BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC committed a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has directed the BBC to transmit a evening declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent held a role in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a television network and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the significantly high levels of confidence that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
