British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Violation of Media Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," the regulator stated.
'Potential to Undermine Confidence'
The authority's report said: "Our probe determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father occupied a post in the Hamas-run government was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the content he shared.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a television network and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This error had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of trust that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The documentary was removed from the online platform in last February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the date and language are confirmed."
