BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Says UK Media Regulator
The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to transmit a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a media organization and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the risk to undermine the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
