BBC Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Standards, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the BBC to air a evening declaration about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to transmit a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the voice's parent held a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to damage the significantly high levels of trust that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
