🔗 Share this article British Broadcasting Corporation Gaza Programme Ruled a 'Major' Infringement of Broadcasting Standards, Declares Ofcom The British broadcaster was found to have committed a "significant breach" of broadcasting rules by omitting to mention that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas administrator, as determined by UK media regulator Ofcom. An inquiry by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the film was "significantly deceptive". The chief executive of the broadcaster had previously apologised, noting there had been "a serious error in relation to factual correctness". The regulator has ordered the corporation to transmit a peak-time statement about its conclusions. "As this represents a serious breach of our regulations, we are directing the corporation to air a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC Two at nine o'clock in the evening, with a date to be determined," the regulator stated. 'Potential to Erode Trust' The watchdog's report said: "Our probe determined that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's male guardian held a position in the Hamas-administered government was substantially inaccurate. "It meant that the public did not have vital facts which may have been extremely pertinent to their assessment of the voice and the content he presented. "Credibility is at the core of the connection between a media organization and its public, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation. "This error had the possibility to erode the significantly high levels of confidence that audiences would have put in a BBC factual programme about the conflict in Gaza." The film was withdrawn from iPlayer in the month of February after the boy's personal associations emerged, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment found it violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on accuracy. A corporation official said: "The regulator's decision is in accordance with the results of the corporation's inquiry, that there was a serious error in the film in relation to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines on truthfulness, which reflects clause 2.2 of the regulator's media standards. "We have apologised for this and we agree with Ofcom's decision in complete. We will adhere to the sanction as soon as the date and wording are finalised."