BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Media Regulations, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a film about Gaza 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 found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to broadcast a evening declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the corporation to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The authority's announcement declared: "Our investigation found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent held a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the details he presented.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of credibility that the public would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was pulled from the online platform in February after the boy's family links were revealed, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement 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 truthfulness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the authority's determination in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the date and language are confirmed."
