BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has directed the corporation to air a peak-time statement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a statement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," it said.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The authority's statement stated: "Our probe found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the significantly high levels of confidence that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the corporation's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
