BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Breach of Media Standards, Declares Ofcom
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The authority has directed the BBC to air a prime-time statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are instructing the BBC to broadcast a message of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Confidence'
The regulator's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to erode the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the online platform in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
