The BBC will be required to air a statement correcting its coverage after the U.K. media watchdog Ofcom sanctioned the channel failing to identify the narrator of a Gaza documentary as the son of a Hamas official.
“Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” aired on the BBC in February. It quickly drew fire for being one-sided against Israel, and critics identified one of the narrators, all young people, as the son of Hamas’s former deputy minister of agriculture.
“Trust is at the heart of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, particularly for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC. This failing had the potential to erode the significantly high levels of trust that audiences would have placed in a BBC factual programme about the Israel-Gaza war,” Ofcom wrote in a statement.
The media regulator also added that the BBC’s breach of its broadcasting code resulted in its audience being “materially misled.”
As a consequence, the BBC will be required to air a statement of Ofcom’s findings during its broadcast. A date for the statement has not yet been released.
The film, which was produced by independent production company Hoyo Films, follows three young people as they navigate war-torn Gaza. It has emerged as a central exhibit for those who believe the BBC is biased against Israel.
The BBC said Hoyo had not disclosed the relationship of one of the narrators, Abdullah Al-Yazouri, prior to its screening. The documentary was pulled from distribution following the revelation about Al-Yazouri’s family ties.
Several months ago, an internal review by the network found it had breached an editorial rule on accuracy but concluded there was no evidence that Hamas “inappropriately impacted” the program. According to the internal review, which was conducted by Peter Johnston, the BBC’s director of editorial complaints and reviews, $1,071 was paid to Al-Yazouri’s sister for a “reasonable, production-related” expense.
Johnston added that there was “no reasonable basis to conclude that anyone engaged or paid in connection with the programme was subject to financial sanctions” related to Hamas.
“The Ofcom ruling is in line with the findings of Peter Johnston’s review, that there was a significant failing in the documentary in relation to the BBC’s editorial guidelines on accuracy,” the BBC said in a statement on Friday. “We have apologised for this and we accept Ofcom’s decision in full. We will comply with the sanction as soon as the date and wording are finalised.”
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