BBC Gaza Programme Deemed a 'Significant' Breach of Broadcasting Regulations, Says Ofcom

The British broadcaster engaged in a "significant breach" of industry standards by failing to disclose that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the son of a Hamas representative, as determined by regulatory body Ofcom.

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

The head of the BBC had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".

Ofcom has ordered the broadcaster to transmit a peak-time declaration about its decisions.

"As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the broadcaster to transmit a message of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 21:00, with a schedule to be finalised," the statement read.

'Potential to Undermine Trust'

The authority's report said: "Our probe determined that the programme's omission to reveal that the presenter's father occupied a post in the Hamas-controlled authority was substantially inaccurate.

"It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their assessment of the voice and the details he shared.

"Confidence is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster.

"This failing had the risk to erode the very considerable degrees of confidence that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."

The documentary was removed from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it infringed the corporation's content policies on truthfulness.

A BBC spokesperson stated: "The authority's determination is in agreement with the results of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the corporation's content standards on factual correctness, which aligns with clause 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code.

"We issued an apology for this and we accept Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are confirmed."