BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Significant' Breach of Media Rules, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to broadcast a prime-time statement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The authority's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
