BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Media Regulations, Says Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are directing the corporation to air a message of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The authority's announcement declared: "Our probe concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's parent occupied a role in the Hamas-administered authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the voice and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong degrees of credibility that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A corporation official commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
