BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the voice of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to air a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our probe determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-controlled administration was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the very considerable amounts of credibility that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's family links came to light, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it violated the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
