British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Rules, Says Ofcom
The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has directed the BBC to air a evening announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's report stated: "Our probe found that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's father occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high levels of credibility that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the corporation's content policies on factual correctness.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
