British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, States UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The authority's report stated: "Our probe determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's father occupied a role in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the information he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that audiences would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
