British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Infringement of Media Rules, Says UK Media Regulator
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has instructed the corporation to broadcast a evening statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are directing the BBC to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the film's omission to reveal that the presenter's father served in a post in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the content he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its public, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the very considerable amounts of trust that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in last February after the presenter's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and language are determined."
