BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the corporation to transmit a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the BBC to air a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The authority's statement declared: "Our probe concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the possibility to erode the significantly high levels of trust that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from iPlayer in last February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
