BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the corporation to transmit a evening announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our probe found that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's father served in a role in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the very considerable amounts of trust that audiences would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from the online platform in last February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
