BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Says UK Media Regulator
The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".
The authority has instructed the broadcaster to transmit a evening announcement about its findings.
"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to transmit a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a schedule to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Undermine Trust'
The watchdog's statement declared: "Our probe determined that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's father occupied a position in the Hamas-administered government was materially misleading.
"Consequently 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.
"Confidence is at the core of the bond between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This failing had the possibility to undermine the very considerable degrees of confidence that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The documentary was pulled from the online platform in February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the corporation's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We expressed regret for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the schedule and language are determined."
