British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Infringement of Media Regulations, Declares Ofcom
The BBC committed a "major breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening statement about its findings.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the BBC to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent served in a role in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a television network and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
