BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Rules, Says Ofcom

The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by omitting to mention that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.

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

The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".

Ofcom has ordered the corporation to air a prime-time announcement about its findings.

"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a statement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 9pm, with a timing to be determined," it said.

'Risk to Erode Confidence'

The watchdog's statement said: "Our investigation found that the film's failure to disclose that the voice's parent occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was significantly deceptive.

"Consequently that the audience did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he provided.

"Credibility is at the core of the connection between a media organization and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This failing had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong amounts of confidence that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."

The programme was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in the month of July an internal BBC review determined it violated the broadcaster's content policies on truthfulness.

A corporation official stated: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the conclusions of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the corporation's content standards on truthfulness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.

"We issued an apology for this and we comply with Ofcom's decision in its entirety. We will follow the directive as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."