BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares Ofcom
The BBC was found to have committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas official, as ruled by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the documentary was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".
The regulator has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a evening statement about its conclusions.
"Given this constitutes a major infringement of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to air a message of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Undermine Trust'
The regulator's announcement stated: "Our investigation found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-administered authority was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the public did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the information he presented.
"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This failing had the risk to damage the significantly high degrees of credibility that audiences would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it breached the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.
A corporation official commented: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and language are determined."