British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Major' Violation of Media Standards, States Broadcasting Watchdog

The British broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

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

The chief executive of the broadcaster had earlier expressed regret, stating there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".

The authority has directed the corporation to air a evening statement about its findings.

"Given this constitutes a serious breach of our rules, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a message of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be finalised," the statement read.

'Risk to Damage Confidence'

The authority's announcement said: "Our investigation concluded that the programme's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled government was materially misleading.

"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their judgment of the narrator and the information he presented.

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

"This oversight had the possibility to undermine the exceptionally strong levels of trust that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Israel-Gaza war."

The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry found it breached the organization's content policies on truthfulness.

A representative for the broadcaster stated: "The authority's determination is in line with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with Rule 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and language are determined."