BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Breach of Media Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to air a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are instructing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the narrator's parent held a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he shared.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond 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 exceptionally strong amounts of credibility that audiences would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
