British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Ruled a 'Significant' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares UK Media Regulator

The BBC engaged in a "serious breach" of broadcasting rules by not revealing that the presenter of a film about Gaza was the child of a Hamas official, according to UK media regulator Ofcom.

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

The BBC's director general had previously apologised, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness".

The authority has directed the BBC to air a evening announcement about its findings.

"As this represents a major infringement of our regulations, we are ordering the broadcaster to broadcast a statement of our determinations against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a timing to be determined," the statement read.

'Possibility to Erode Credibility'

The watchdog's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted determined that the programme's failure to disclose that the voice's parent served in a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading.

"It meant that the public did not have essential details which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he presented.

"Credibility is at the center of the connection between a media organization and its viewers, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"This failing had the possibility to undermine the significantly high degrees of trust that the public would have put in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza."

The programme was pulled from iPlayer in last February after the presenter's familial connections emerged, and in this past July an internal BBC review concluded it breached the organization's journalistic standards on accuracy.

A BBC spokesperson commented: "The regulator's decision is in agreement 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 accuracy, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards.

"We expressed regret for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will comply with the penalty as soon as the timing and language are confirmed."