BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Says Ofcom
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority 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 previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to transmit a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be confirmed," it said.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The authority's report stated: "Our probe found that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father held a post in the Hamas-administered administration was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the significantly high amounts of credibility that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's family links came to light, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
