British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"Since this amounts to a significant violation of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to transmit a statement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Damage Credibility'
The regulator's report stated: "Our investigation concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to erode the significantly high degrees of trust that viewers would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from the online platform in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and language are confirmed."
