BBC Gaza Documentary Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Media Regulations, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a documentary about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to air a prime-time declaration about its decisions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," it said.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.
"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to erode the significantly high degrees of credibility that the public would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was pulled from iPlayer in February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will follow the directive as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
