BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Media Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas official, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the BBC to air a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Confidence'
The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Confidence is at the core of the connection between a television network and its audience, 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 viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in July an internal BBC review found it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the directive as soon as the date and wording are determined."
