BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Media Regulations, Says UK Media Regulator
The BBC was found to have committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas representative, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are directing the BBC to transmit a message of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's report stated: "Our probe concluded that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the voice and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the core of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to undermine the significantly high amounts of trust that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the boy's family links were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it breached the organization's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
