BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the voice of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are instructing the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent held a role in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to damage the very considerable levels of confidence that audiences would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in July an internal BBC review determined it breached the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The authority's determination is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
