British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Media Standards, Says Ofcom
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the BBC to air a evening declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a statement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The authority's report stated: "Our probe concluded that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent held a post in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a television network and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the possibility to erode the significantly high degrees of credibility that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will follow the sanction as soon as the timing and language are determined."
