BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Declares UK Media Regulator

The public service broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of media regulations by omitting to mention that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, according to regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by Ofcom into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has concluded that the film was "significantly deceptive".

The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, saying there had been "a significant failing in relation to factual correctness".

Ofcom has directed the corporation to broadcast a prime-time statement about its decisions.

"As this represents a serious breach of our rules, we are instructing the broadcaster to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a timing to be confirmed," it said.

'Risk to Undermine Credibility'

The regulator's report said: "Our investigation determined that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's father held a post in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate.

"This implied that the viewers did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he provided.

"Credibility is at the heart of the connection between a television network and its public, notably for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This failing had the potential to undermine the very considerable amounts of credibility that viewers would have invested in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."

The programme was pulled from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an corporation's own inquiry determined it infringed the broadcaster's content policies on accuracy.

A BBC spokesperson commented: "The authority's determination is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on accuracy, which corresponds to Rule 2.2 of the authority's broadcasting regulations.

"We expressed regret for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the schedule and wording are determined."