British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Media Rules, States UK Media Regulator
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to transmit a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Risk to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's parent served in a role in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the narrator and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of confidence that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and language are determined."
