BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the voice of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to transmit a evening declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," it said.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The regulator's statement stated: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was materially misleading.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the risk to erode the very considerable amounts of credibility that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's family links came to light, and in July an internal BBC review determined it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
