BBC Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Serious' Infringement of Media Standards, States UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time declaration about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to air a message of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Risk to Erode Confidence'
The authority's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the information he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong levels of trust that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's personal associations came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the organization's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
