British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Major' Violation of Media Regulations, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has directed the corporation to air a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The watchdog's report declared: "Our investigation found that the film's lack of disclosure that the narrator's father held a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the voice and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a television network and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the organization's content policies on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the authority's determination in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
