BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Potential to Erode Trust'
The authority's announcement stated: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent held a post in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the presenter and the content he shared.
"Confidence is at the core of the connection between a television network and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the risk to damage the significantly high levels of credibility that the public would have put in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the conclusions 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 Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
