BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Serious' Infringement of Media Regulations, Says Ofcom
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the BBC to broadcast a statement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Confidence'
The regulator's announcement declared: "Our investigation found that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the voice's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the significantly high degrees of confidence that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with regulation 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 confirmed."
