BBC Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Significant' Violation of Media Standards, Declares Broadcasting Watchdog
The public service broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the voice of a programme about the Gaza situation was the son of a Hamas representative, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom.
An probe by the broadcasting watchdog into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading".
The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to factual correctness".
Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to air a evening announcement about its conclusions.
"As this represents a serious breach of our code, we are instructing the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," the statement read.
'Potential to Undermine Credibility'
The authority's report stated: "Our investigation determined that the programme's lack of disclosure that the narrator's male guardian held a role in the Hamas-run administration was significantly deceptive.
"This implied that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the information he provided.
"Trust is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its public, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.
"This oversight had the possibility to erode the exceptionally strong degrees of credibility that audiences would have placed in a documentary produced by the BBC about the conflict in Gaza."
The programme was removed from iPlayer in the month of February after the presenter's family links emerged, and in the month of July an corporation's own inquiry concluded it infringed the corporation's editorial guidelines on factual correctness.
A representative for the broadcaster said: "The Ofcom ruling is in accordance with the findings of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a significant failing in the programme in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.
"We have apologised for this and we comply with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will follow the penalty as soon as the timing and wording are determined."
