BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, Says Ofcom
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An inquiry by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has directed the corporation to transmit a prime-time statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are directing the corporation to air a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a date to be finalised," it said.
'Possibility to Damage Credibility'
The authority's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the risk to undermine the significantly high degrees of credibility that viewers would have put in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in this past July an internal BBC review concluded it infringed the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which aligns with regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
