BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Breach of Media Rules, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the BBC to broadcast a prime-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a schedule to be finalised," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's father held a post in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the risk to erode the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
