British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Media Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the corporation to transmit a evening declaration about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the BBC to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's statement declared: "Our probe concluded that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-run authority was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the online platform in last February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are determined."
