British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Deemed a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas administrator, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An probe by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy".
Ofcom has ordered the BBC to broadcast a evening declaration about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.
'Risk to Damage Trust'
The authority's report stated: "Our probe found that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father occupied a role in the Hamas-run government was substantially inaccurate.
"This implied that the public did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the voice and the details he shared.
"Confidence is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its audience, notably for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the potential to damage the exceptionally strong degrees of credibility that viewers would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."
The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results 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 regulation 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are determined."
