BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the corporation to broadcast a evening announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our rules, we are instructing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's report stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the narrator's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading.
"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of credibility that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's family links were revealed, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the organization's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
