British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the corporation to transmit a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Credibility'
The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This error had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
