BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Media Standards, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas official, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to transmit a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our probe concluded that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's parent held a post in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the core of the connection between a television network and its audience, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong degrees of trust that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was removed from the online platform in last February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."