British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Rules, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening statement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the corporation to air a statement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's report said: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in last February after the narrator's personal associations were revealed, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A corporation official said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
