British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Rules, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to air a evening statement about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are directing the BBC to transmit a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Trust'
The regulator's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent occupied a post in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Trust is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its public, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review found it violated the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
