British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to broadcast a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The regulator's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's father served in a position in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Confidence is at the core of the relationship between a television network and its audience, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong levels of trust that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an internal BBC review found it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
