BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Breach of Media Regulations, Says UK Media Regulator
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a message of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," it said.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our investigation found that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's father served in a role in the Hamas-run administration was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of confidence that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in February after the boy's family links were revealed, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
