BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the BBC to air a evening statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The authority's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the very considerable levels of credibility that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
