BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Media Standards, States UK Media Regulator
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The authority has directed the corporation to broadcast a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's report said: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the content he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
