BBC Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Regulations, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas official, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to air a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the BBC to air a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the content he presented.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the significantly high levels of credibility that viewers would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was pulled from iPlayer in February after the narrator's family links emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review determined it violated the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
