British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father held a role in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from the online platform in last February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
