British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Regulations, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the voice of a documentary about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the media regulator into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a evening statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Possibility to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's statement declared: "Our investigation found that the film's omission to reveal that the narrator's parent held a post in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.
"It meant that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the public broadcaster.
"This failing had the potential to undermine the very considerable levels of confidence that the public would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."
The film was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's familial connections came to light, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it breached the corporation's content policies on accuracy.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the conclusions of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are confirmed."
