BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Media Regulations, States Ofcom
The public service broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas official, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to air a prime-time declaration about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are ordering the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to damage the very considerable levels of credibility that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's family links came to light, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the corporation's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and wording are determined."
