British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Considered a 'Significant' Infringement of Media Regulations, Says Ofcom

The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about the Gaza conflict was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

An investigation by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the programme was "materially misleading".

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

Ofcom has directed the broadcaster to broadcast a prime-time declaration about its decisions.

"As this represents a major infringement of our rules, we are ordering the BBC to transmit a statement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 21:00, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read.

'Potential to Undermine Credibility'

The authority's statement declared: "Our investigation concluded that the film's omission to reveal that the voice's parent served in a role in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading.

"Consequently that the viewers did not have critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the voice and the details he provided.

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

"This failing had the potential to damage the very considerable amounts of credibility that viewers would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Gaza conflict."

The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's familial connections came to light, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment concluded it breached the corporation's content policies on accuracy.

A representative for the broadcaster commented: "The regulator's decision is in line with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We have apologised for this and we agree with the regulator's ruling in complete. We will follow the sanction as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."