BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to transmit a evening statement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be confirmed," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's statement declared: "Our investigation determined that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a television network and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the risk to erode the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was pulled from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
