BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Ofcom
The public service broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the presenter of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a prime-time declaration about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The watchdog's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian held a post in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the voice and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a television network and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of credibility that viewers would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and language are determined."