BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Significant' Breach of Media Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator
The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the voice of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the media regulator into the programme Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "materially misleading".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to truthfulness".
Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time statement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are ordering the corporation to transmit a announcement of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.
'Possibility to Undermine Credibility'
The regulator's statement declared: "Our probe concluded that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's parent occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled administration was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the public did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their judgment of the presenter and the content he provided.
"Trust is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.
"This error had the possibility to undermine the very considerable levels of trust that the public would have put in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war."
The programme was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in February after the boy's familial connections emerged, and in July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.
A corporation official said: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the findings of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."