British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Considered a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog

The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, according to British broadcasting authority Ofcom.

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

The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".

The regulator has instructed the corporation to transmit a prime-time statement about its decisions.

"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our rules, we are ordering the corporation to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be determined," it said.

'Risk to Damage Credibility'

The watchdog's statement declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the narrator's father occupied a position in the Hamas-run authority was materially misleading.

"This implied that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the presenter and the information he presented.

"Credibility is at the heart of the bond between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the significantly high degrees of credibility that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."

The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review found it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on factual correctness.

A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and language are determined."