British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to air a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are directing the corporation to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's report said: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's father served in a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the voice and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that the public would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
