BBC Gaza Film Deemed a 'Major' Infringement of Media Standards, Says UK Media Regulator

The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.

An investigation by Ofcom into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".

The regulator has directed the BBC to broadcast a prime-time statement about its decisions.

"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to air a statement of our findings against it on BBC2 at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be confirmed," it said.

'Possibility to Undermine Confidence'

The regulator's statement stated: "Our investigation concluded that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father served in a role in the Hamas-controlled administration was materially misleading.

"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he shared.

"Trust is at the heart of the connection between a media organization and its public, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.

"This failing had the risk to erode the significantly high degrees of confidence that viewers would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."

The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on truthfulness.

A corporation official stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."