BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the voice of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," it said.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report said: "Our investigation concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's father held a post in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Confidence is at the core of the bond between a television network and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the very considerable amounts of confidence that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's family links came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
