British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC was found to have committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a evening statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Credibility'
The authority's statement stated: "Our probe determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's parent held a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the significantly high amounts of trust that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the narrator's family links came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects clause 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 comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
