BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Media Standards, States Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the BBC to broadcast a evening statement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's statement said: "Our investigation found that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's father occupied a post in the Hamas-administered administration was materially misleading.
"This implied that the public did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a media organization and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to undermine the very considerable amounts of trust that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
