BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has directed the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Credibility'
The regulator's report declared: "Our probe concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the narrator's father served in a position in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the information he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and wording are determined."
