BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to air a peak-time statement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the corporation to transmit a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's parent served in a role in the Hamas-administered administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was pulled from the online platform in February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review determined it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
