BBC Gaza Documentary Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Media Regulations, Declares Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by not revealing that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary 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 directed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to air a statement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's announcement said: "Our probe determined that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.
"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the heart of the bond between a media organization and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the very considerable levels of confidence that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was pulled from the online platform in the month of February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."
