BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Confidence'
The watchdog's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father served in a post in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the significantly high amounts of confidence that the public would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and wording are determined."
