BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Breach of Media Rules, Declares Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the BBC to broadcast a evening statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The watchdog's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the audience did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a media organization and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the exceptionally strong degrees of confidence that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the narrator's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
