British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the BBC to air a evening declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to air a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Trust'
The regulator's report declared: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to damage the significantly high levels of trust that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
