BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Violation of Media Rules, Declares Ofcom

The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about the Gaza conflict was the son of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by regulatory body Ofcom.

An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the programme was "significantly deceptive".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, saying there had been "a serious error in relation to accuracy".

The regulator has directed the BBC to air a evening statement about its decisions.

"As this represents a significant violation of our code, we are instructing the broadcaster to transmit a message of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the regulator stated.

'Potential to Erode Credibility'

The authority's statement said: "The inquiry we conducted found that the documentary's omission to reveal that the narrator's male guardian occupied a role in the Hamas-run government was substantially inaccurate.

"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the content he shared.

"Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its viewers, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This failing had the risk to erode the significantly high levels of confidence that viewers would have invested in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."

The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry determined it violated the corporation's editorial guidelines on accuracy.

A representative for the broadcaster said: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in its entirety. We will adhere to the directive as soon as the timing and wording are confirmed."