BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Media Standards, States UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time statement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The authority's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of trust that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
