BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are instructing the corporation to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Credibility'
The authority's report stated: "Our probe found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the voice and the content he presented.
"Confidence is at the core of the connection between a television network and its public, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of trust that the public would have put in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it infringed the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are determined."
