BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the broadcaster to air a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are instructing the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Risk to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's announcement declared: "Our probe found that the film's omission to reveal that the narrator's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable amounts of trust that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and language are determined."
