British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC 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 official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a evening statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to transmit a statement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father held a post in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the relationship between a broadcaster and its public, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from iPlayer in February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in agreement 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 issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
