🔗 Share this article BBC Gaza Film Ruled a 'Serious' Violation of Broadcasting Rules, States UK Media Regulator The public service broadcaster committed a "major breach" of broadcasting rules by failing to disclose that the narrator of a film about Gaza was the offspring of a Hamas representative, as determined by British broadcasting authority Ofcom. An probe by Ofcom into the documentary titled Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone has determined that the programme was "materially misleading". The BBC's director general had previously apologised, saying there had been "a major oversight in relation to accuracy". Ofcom has directed the corporation to transmit a evening announcement about its conclusions. "Given this constitutes a significant violation of our code, we are ordering the BBC to broadcast a announcement of our conclusions against it on BBC2 at 9pm, with a schedule to be determined," the statement read. 'Risk to Undermine Confidence' The regulator's report declared: "The inquiry we conducted found that the film's lack of disclosure that the presenter's father occupied a position in the Hamas-controlled authority was materially misleading. "Consequently that the viewers did not have essential details which may have been very significant to their assessment of the presenter and the details he provided. "Trust is at the core of the connection between a broadcaster and its audience, especially for a state-funded media outlet such as the British Broadcasting Corporation. "This error had the potential to damage the very considerable levels of credibility that audiences would have placed in a factual film from the broadcaster about the Israel-Gaza war." The film was withdrawn from the BBC's streaming service in the month of February after the presenter's personal associations were revealed, and in July an broadcaster's internal assessment determined it violated the corporation's journalistic standards on truthfulness. A corporation official stated: "The Ofcom ruling is in agreement with the findings of the internal assessment, that there was a serious error in the documentary in relation to the broadcaster's journalistic policies on accuracy, which corresponds to regulation 2.2 of the regulator's media standards. "We have apologised for this and we agree with the authority's determination in its entirety. We will adhere to the penalty as soon as the schedule and wording are confirmed."