BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Rules, Declares Ofcom
The BBC committed a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the BBC to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of confidence that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
