British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to transmit a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The regulator's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's father occupied a role in the Hamas-administered administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its audience, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable levels of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in last February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will follow the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
