BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Media Standards, Declares Ofcom
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time statement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the corporation to air a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Confidence'
The regulator's report declared: "Our probe found that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's father held a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the very considerable levels of trust that viewers would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's family links came to light, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
