🔗 Share this article British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Film Considered a 'Significant' Violation of Media Standards, States UK Media Regulator The British broadcaster engaged in a "major breach" of industry standards by not revealing that the presenter of a programme about the Gaza conflict was the child of a Hamas administrator, as ruled by UK media regulator Ofcom. An investigation by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has found that the film was "substantially inaccurate". The BBC's director general had already issued an apology, noting there had been "a major oversight in relation to truthfulness". Ofcom has instructed the broadcaster to broadcast a peak-time announcement about its decisions. "Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are directing the BBC to transmit a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at 9pm, with a schedule to be confirmed," it said. 'Possibility to Damage Trust' The watchdog's statement said: "Our investigation determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the voice's male guardian served in a post in the Hamas-administered government was significantly deceptive. "It meant that the audience did not have vital facts which may have been very significant to their judgment of the narrator and the information he shared. "Confidence is at the center of the relationship between a broadcaster and its audience, notably for a public service broadcaster such as the public broadcaster. "This error had the potential to erode the exceptionally strong amounts of credibility that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war." The programme was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's family links emerged, and in this past July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on accuracy. A corporation official stated: "The regulator's decision is in line with the conclusions of Peter Johnston's review, that there was a major oversight in the film in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on factual correctness, which reflects Rule 2.2 of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code. "We issued an apology for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are finalised."