BBC Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Major' Breach of Media Regulations, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the broadcaster to air a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The authority's announcement said: "Our investigation found that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent served in a post in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a television network and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from iPlayer in February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and language are determined."
