BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC committed a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time declaration about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Erode Trust'
The watchdog's report declared: "Our investigation determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian served in a role in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"It meant that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the core of the bond between a television network and its viewers, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of trust that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in complete. We will follow the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."
