BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog

The BBC was found to have committed a "serious breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.

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

The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".

Ofcom has ordered the corporation to air a evening statement about its conclusions.

"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," it said.

'Risk to Undermine Credibility'

The regulator's statement said: "Our investigation concluded that the film's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.

"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the voice and the content he presented.

"Credibility is at the core of the relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.

"This failing had the potential to undermine the significantly high amounts of credibility that the public would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."

The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the boy's family links emerged, and in July an internal BBC review determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.

A corporation official stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We issued an apology for this and we comply with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."