British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, States Ofcom
The BBC was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to broadcast a evening announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the information he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a media organization and its public, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the risk to erode the significantly high amounts of trust that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it infringed the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
