BBC Gaza Film Considered a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Standards, Says Broadcasting Watchdog

The British broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of media regulations by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about the Gaza situation was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom.

An investigation by the media regulator into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".

The chief executive of the broadcaster had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to accuracy".

Ofcom has instructed the BBC to air a prime-time declaration about its findings.

"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our regulations, we are directing the BBC to air a message of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a date to be determined," the statement read.

'Possibility to Undermine Trust'

The authority's announcement stated: "The inquiry we conducted found that the programme's failure to disclose that the presenter's male guardian occupied a post in the Hamas-administered authority was materially misleading.

"This implied that the audience did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their evaluation of the voice and the content he shared.

"Trust is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its audience, especially for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC.

"This oversight had the possibility to damage the very considerable amounts of trust that audiences would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."

The programme was pulled from the online platform in the month of February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.

A BBC spokesperson stated: "The regulator's decision is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a major oversight in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on truthfulness, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

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