British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Significant' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the voice of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time statement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to air a statement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's statement declared: "Our investigation found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent served in a role in the Hamas-controlled administration was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the information he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable amounts of credibility that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
