British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has instructed the BBC to transmit a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are ordering the corporation to air a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The authority's statement declared: "Our investigation concluded that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent held a post in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a television network and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the possibility to damage the significantly high amounts of confidence that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
