BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Rules, States Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The authority's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent served in a role in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to erode the very considerable amounts of trust that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was pulled from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it infringed the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
