BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Media Rules, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the voice of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the corporation to broadcast a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The regulator's announcement stated: "Our probe concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent served in a position in the Hamas-run authority 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 information he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."