BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Media Standards, States Ofcom
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has ordered the corporation to transmit a prime-time statement about its findings.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are directing the BBC to broadcast a statement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.
'Risk to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's statement declared: "Our investigation found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's parent occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the voice and the information he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the risk to undermine the very considerable amounts of credibility that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's personal associations were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."
