British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Media Regulations, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to air a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the BBC to transmit a statement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The regulator's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of trust that audiences would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the boy's familial connections came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
