BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Major' Breach of Media Standards, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a evening announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's report declared: "Our investigation determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to erode the significantly high amounts of confidence that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
