British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Rules, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas official, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "significantly deceptive".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The authority has ordered the corporation to air a peak-time statement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Possibility to Damage Trust'
The regulator's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-administered administration was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the relationship between a television network and its public, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong levels of confidence that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The programme was pulled from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it violated the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."
