BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Rules, Says Ofcom
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas official, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to air a evening statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are directing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the potential to erode the very considerable levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
