BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to air a peak-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The regulator's report said: "Our investigation found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the significantly high levels of confidence that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the narrator's family links came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
