British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Regulations, Says Broadcasting Watchdog

The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

An probe by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".

The BBC's director general had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".

The regulator has directed the corporation to transmit a prime-time statement about its conclusions.

"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.

'Risk to Erode Trust'

The authority's statement stated: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's failure to disclose that the presenter's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled administration was materially misleading.

"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their evaluation of the presenter and the details he shared.

"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.

"This oversight had the potential to undermine the very considerable amounts of confidence that viewers would have put in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."

The documentary was withdrawn from the online platform in the month of February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in July an internal BBC review determined it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy.

A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the date and wording are finalised."