British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the BBC to broadcast a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the corporation to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," it said.
'Risk to Undermine Confidence'
The watchdog's report said: "Our probe found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading.
"This implied that the public did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a media organization and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the very considerable levels of trust that the public would have put in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the online platform in the month of February after the narrator's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will comply with the directive as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."