BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the corporation to broadcast a evening announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the BBC to air a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-controlled government was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the significantly high levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the narrator's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
