British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Standards, Declares Ofcom
The BBC was found to have committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the BBC to air a prime-time declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our rules, we are ordering the corporation to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the statement read.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The watchdog's statement stated: "Our probe found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the public did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from iPlayer in February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in July an internal BBC review found it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
