BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Standards, Declares Ofcom
The BBC committed a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are directing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the voice and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to damage the significantly high levels of confidence that viewers would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
