BBC Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Rules, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the voice of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the corporation to air a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to air a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," it said.
'Risk to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent served in a post in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the very considerable levels of trust that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are determined."
