British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Media Rules, States UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas official, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to transmit a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent occupied a role in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the significantly high degrees of trust that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an internal BBC review determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
