British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to air a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Credibility'
The regulator's report said: "Our investigation concluded that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the significantly high degrees of trust that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."