British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, States Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to transmit a prime-time declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the corporation to transmit a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The authority's report said: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a television network and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the online platform in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the schedule and language are determined."
