BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, Says Ofcom
The BBC was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the voice of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has instructed the BBC to air a evening statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Potential to Erode Trust'
The authority's announcement said: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian served in a role in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the narrator and the information he provided.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable degrees of trust that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's family links emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement 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 truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
