BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, States Ofcom
The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the narrator of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the corporation to broadcast a evening declaration about its findings.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a statement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a role in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the content he provided.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable amounts of trust that audiences would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it infringed the corporation's journalistic standards on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."