BBC Gaza Programme Considered a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Ofcom
The BBC committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the voice of a documentary about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.
An investigation by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "substantially inaccurate".
The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".
The regulator has directed the BBC to transmit a prime-time announcement about its decisions.
"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the BBC to transmit a statement of our determinations against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a timing to be confirmed," the regulator stated.
'Risk to Damage Confidence'
The watchdog's statement stated: "Our investigation found that the documentary's failure to disclose that the narrator's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.
"Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he presented.
"Trust is at the center of the bond between a broadcaster and its viewers, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the BBC.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong degrees of credibility that the public would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Gaza conflict."
The film was removed from the online platform in last February after the presenter's family links were revealed, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it breached the organization's journalistic standards on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.
"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in full. We will follow the penalty as soon as the schedule and language are finalised."
