BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Rules, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the BBC to broadcast a evening declaration about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a message of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Erode Credibility'
The regulator's report said: "Our investigation determined that the film's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the details he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the very considerable levels of credibility that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was pulled from iPlayer in last February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it infringed the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
