British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to transmit a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's father served in a post in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high levels of credibility that audiences would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry found it infringed the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the penalty as soon as the date and wording are finalised."