BBC Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Media Regulations, Says UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas official, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Credibility'
The authority's report stated: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's father occupied a role in the Hamas-administered administration was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the significantly high amounts of trust that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the narrator's family links came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
