BBC Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Rules, States Broadcasting Watchdog
The BBC engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "materially misleading".
The head of the BBC had previously apologised, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has directed the corporation to transmit a peak-time statement about its decisions.
"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our rules, we are ordering the corporation to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be finalised," the statement read.
'Potential to Damage Trust'
The regulator's statement said: "Our probe found that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's parent held a position in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.
"It meant that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the relationship between a television network and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the potential to damage the very considerable degrees of trust that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was pulled from the online platform in last February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the broadcaster's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.
A BBC spokesperson commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which corresponds to clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the sanction as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."
