BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Breach of Media Standards, States UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the BBC to air a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, 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 date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the core of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the very considerable amounts of credibility that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from the online platform in February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and language are confirmed."
