British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to broadcast a evening declaration about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's statement declared: "Our probe determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father held a position in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the presenter and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the very considerable degrees of confidence that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the corporation's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
