BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Breach of Media Rules, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a statement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent served in a role in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the possibility to damage the significantly high levels of confidence that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it breached the broadcaster's content policies on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
