British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a prime-time announcement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our code, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-administered administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Confidence is at the core of the bond between a television network and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable amounts of confidence that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
