BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Serious' Violation of Media Rules, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the BBC to air a evening declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our investigation concluded that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's parent served in a position in the Hamas-administered authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it breached the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and wording are determined."
