BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has directed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement declared: "Our investigation determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father served in a post in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a television network and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from iPlayer in February after the narrator's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."
