BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Violation of Media Standards, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to air a evening statement about its findings.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to air a statement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Undermine Confidence'
The regulator's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-run administration was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a television network and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to undermine the very considerable levels of trust that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and language are determined."
