BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Media Rules, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the BBC to transmit a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our investigation found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the significantly high amounts of credibility that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A corporation official stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
