BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Media Rules, Declares Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the corporation to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's report said: "Our investigation concluded that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the voice's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a television network and its public, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the exceptionally strong degrees of credibility that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, 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 adhere to the penalty as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
