British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Breach of Media Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has directed the corporation to air a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The regulator's report stated: "Our probe found that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's parent held a role in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the information he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong degrees of confidence that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's family links emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
