British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Media Rules, Says Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our code, we are directing the BBC to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Possibility to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the very considerable amounts of trust that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the directive as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
