BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Ofcom
The BBC committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the voice of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into 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".
The regulator has instructed the BBC to broadcast a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our regulations, we are instructing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's report declared: "Our probe found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the information he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a media organization and its audience, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in the month of February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it infringed the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
