BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Breach of Media Regulations, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the child of a Hamas official, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to transmit a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are instructing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Undermine Trust'
The regulator's report said: "Our probe determined that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a television network and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
