BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Major' Violation of Media Rules, Says UK Media Regulator

The British broadcaster committed a "serious breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a programme about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas official, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom.

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

The head of the BBC had earlier expressed regret, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness".

Ofcom has instructed the corporation to air a evening statement about its decisions.

"Since this amounts to a serious breach of our code, we are directing the corporation to air a statement of our conclusions against it on the BBC's second channel at nine o'clock in the evening, with a schedule to be finalised," it said.

'Possibility to Erode Confidence'

The regulator's statement stated: "Our probe determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-run government was significantly deceptive.

"This implied that the audience did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their judgment of the presenter and the content he presented.

"Confidence is at the center of the bond between a television network and its public, particularly for a national broadcasting corporation such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This oversight had the risk to undermine the significantly high levels of credibility that the public would have invested in a factual film from the broadcaster about the conflict in Gaza."

The film was withdrawn from the online platform in February after the boy's family links came to light, and in July an internal BBC review determined it infringed the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy.

A corporation official commented: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the results of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the programme in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

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