British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Considered a 'Serious' Violation of Media Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas representative, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The regulator's statement stated: "Our probe found that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-run authority was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that viewers would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in complete. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."