BBC Gaza Documentary Deemed a 'Major' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, States UK Media Regulator

The public service broadcaster engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the narrator of a film about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas official, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

An inquiry by the broadcasting watchdog into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the documentary was "significantly deceptive".

The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, stating there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".

The authority has directed the BBC to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions.

"Given this constitutes a significant violation of our rules, we are directing the corporation to broadcast a message of our findings against it on the BBC's second channel at 21:00, with a date to be determined," it said.

'Potential to Damage Confidence'

The authority's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the narrator's father occupied a post in the Hamas-run government was materially misleading.

"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the presenter and the information he presented.

"Credibility is at the center of the relationship between a television network and its audience, especially for a national broadcasting corporation such as the BBC.

"This failing had the potential to undermine the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the Gaza conflict."

The documentary was pulled from the BBC's streaming service in last February after the boy's familial connections were revealed, and in the month of July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the organization's editorial guidelines on accuracy.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The authority's determination is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We expressed regret for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are finalised."