BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Media Regulations, Declares Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the corporation to air a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a major infringement of our rules, we are directing the corporation to transmit a message of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," it said.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's failure to disclose that the narrator's father served in a post in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the presenter and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the possibility to undermine the very considerable amounts of trust that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and language are confirmed."
