BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Rules, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The authority's announcement said: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent served in a position in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the details he provided.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
