BBC Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's statement said: "Our probe concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father held a post in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the voice and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the very considerable degrees of trust that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
