BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Regulations, Says Ofcom
The public service broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to air a evening declaration about its findings.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Undermine Trust'
The regulator's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent held a role in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the public did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the content he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the very considerable amounts of credibility that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film 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 agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the timing and language are finalised."