British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's announcement stated: "Our investigation found that the film's failure to disclose that the narrator's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to undermine the very considerable degrees of trust that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the narrator's family links emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and language are determined."
