British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Media Standards, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog

The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas administrator, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

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

The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".

Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a evening announcement about its findings.

"As this represents a major infringement of our code, we are directing the corporation to transmit a announcement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.

'Risk to Damage Credibility'

The regulator's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted concluded that the documentary's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.

"This implied that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the narrator and the details he presented.

"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This failing had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of trust that the public would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."

The programme was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it violated the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.

A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which reflects regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We expressed regret for this and we accept the authority's determination in full. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."