BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Media Standards, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the BBC to transmit a peak-time declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The authority's announcement declared: "Our investigation concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its audience, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the significantly high levels of credibility that audiences would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the organization's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and language are finalised."
