BBC Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Media Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Risk to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the information he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's familial connections came to light, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the corporation's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
