British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Considered a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has ordered the corporation to transmit a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's report said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian served in a role in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the core of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the significantly high levels of credibility that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was removed from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the organization's content policies on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
