BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Serious' Infringement of Media Standards, States UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to broadcast a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are directing the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our probe determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent held a position in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the narrator's family links were revealed, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the organization's content policies on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and language are determined."
