BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Standards, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has instructed the corporation to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's report stated: "Our investigation concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's father occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the voice and the details he presented.
"Trust is at the core of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to damage the significantly high amounts of trust that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in July an internal BBC review concluded it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
