British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Significant' Breach of Media Rules, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to air a prime-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's parent held a post in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he presented.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the risk to damage the significantly high amounts of trust that viewers would have put in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and language are determined."
