BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time statement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a message of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Confidence'
The authority's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from the online platform in February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the film 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 accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."