BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the BBC to broadcast a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are directing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our probe found that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's father occupied a role in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to damage the significantly high amounts of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
