BBC Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to air a evening statement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to transmit a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's statement stated: "Our probe found that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's father occupied a post in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong degrees of confidence that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it infringed the corporation's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."