British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Significant' Breach of Media Standards, States Ofcom
The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "substantially inaccurate".
The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions.
"As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a statement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's announcement declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's omission to reveal that the voice's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-run government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the audience did not have critical information which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he presented.
"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This oversight had the risk to erode the very considerable degrees of trust that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The film was removed from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's family links emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."
