BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Broadcasting Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog
The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the child of a Hamas official, according to regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "substantially inaccurate".
The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to air a evening statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the corporation to broadcast a statement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The watchdog's statement said: "Our probe concluded that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent served in a role in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their evaluation of the narrator and the details he provided.
"Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the very considerable amounts of credibility that audiences would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."
The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we accept the regulator's ruling in full. We will follow the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."
