BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Media Regulations, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC was found to have committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the corporation to air a evening statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are instructing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Confidence'
The authority's statement said: "Our investigation found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father held a position in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a television network and its viewers, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that audiences would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
