BBC Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Serious' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the BBC to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Confidence'
The regulator's report stated: "Our probe determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's parent held a post in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from iPlayer in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
