British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Media Regulations, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has directed the broadcaster to air a evening statement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our investigation found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that viewers would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it breached the corporation's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
