An Ofcom investigation found the British state broadcaster to have been \u201cmaterially misleading\u201d in a documentary film on Gaza earlier this year<\/p>\n
British communications watchdog Ofcom has ruled that state broadcaster the BBC breached journalistic code for failing to disclose that the narrator of a Gaza documentary was the son of a Hamas official.
\nIn a statement on Friday, the regulator announced that its probe into the BBC\u2019s \u2018Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone\u2019 documentary found it to be \u201cmaterially misleading.\u201d
\nThe film, which was originally released in February, was partly narrated by the 13-year-old son of the Hamas deputy agriculture minister. The Palestinian militant group is designated as a terrorist organization in the UK, US, and EU.
\n\u201cThe program\u2019s failure to disclose that the narrator\u2019s father held a position in the Hamas-run administration was materially misleading,\u201d Ofcom said on Friday, adding that this could have eroded audience trust.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
BBC bans \u2018high-risk\u2019 broadcasts after anti-Israeli calls<\/p>\n
\u201cThis represents a serious breach of our rules,\u201d it said.
\nThe watchdog has directed the BBC to publish a statement on the investigation\u2019s findings during evening primetime, with an exact date to be determined later.
\nThe BBC apologized for the incident on Friday, and accepted the regulator\u2019s decision.
\nThe broadcaster has been under intense scrutiny over its coverage of the Gaza war. It has recently faced backlash for airing an anti-Israeli musical performance from Glastonbury Festival.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
RT flourishing despite tremendous pressure \u2013 Putin<\/p>\n
Last year, more than 100 staff members complained to Director General Tim Davie of insufficiently covering the Palestinian side of the conflict.
\nOfcom sanctioned RT and revoked its broadcasting license over its coverage of the Ukraine conflict, soon after the escalation in 2022. RT and other Russian media outlets have faced sanctions and outright bans in many Western European nations since.
\nDespite this, they have expanded their reach, while Western networks have scaled back their activities amid budget cuts and shifting foreign policy concerns, the BBC reported in August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An Ofcom investigation found the British state broadcaster to have been \u201cmaterially misleading\u201d in a documentary film on Gaza earlier this year British communications watchdog Ofcom has ruled that state…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t