BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Media Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the corporation to broadcast a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Erode Trust'
The authority's statement declared: "Our probe determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-administered administration was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the details he presented.
"Confidence is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to undermine the significantly high levels of credibility that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
