British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to air a prime-time statement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the BBC to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's announcement stated: "Our investigation determined that the documentary's failure to disclose that the voice's father served in a role in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the narrator's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A corporation official said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
