BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to air a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent held a position in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the core of the bond between a television network and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the very considerable levels of credibility that audiences would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
