British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the BBC to transmit a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a date to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Risk to Undermine Trust'
The authority's announcement declared: "Our investigation determined that the film's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent held a role in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong degrees of credibility that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."