BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to air a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are instructing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its audience, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to damage the very considerable levels of confidence that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in last February after the narrator's family links came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."