BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Serious' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent occupied a post in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the very considerable amounts of trust that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and language are determined."
