British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Media Standards, Says Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas representative, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the corporation to air a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Erode Trust'
The regulator's report said: "Our investigation determined that the film's omission to reveal that the narrator's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to damage the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's family links were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
