British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has instructed the BBC to broadcast a evening statement about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Confidence'
The regulator's announcement said: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the narrator's father occupied a post in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the content he shared.
"Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the significantly high levels of credibility that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
