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BBC’s Gaza Documentary Breached Accuracy Guideline, Review Finds
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by Reuters and Algemeiner Staff
The BBC logo is displayed above the entrance to the BBC headquarters in London, Britain, July 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Hollie Adams
A BBC documentary about children’s lives in Gaza narrated by the 13-year-old son of a Hamas official breached its editorial guidelines on accuracy, an internal review by the British public broadcaster said on Monday.
The investigation, however, found there were no other breaches of the BBC’s editorial guidelines, including on impartiality, and no evidence that outside interests “inappropriately impacted on the program.”
The BBC removed “Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone” from its online platform in February, five days after it was broadcast, saying it had “serious flaws.” The documentary was made by independent production company HOYO Films.
A review found the program breached a guideline on accuracy that deals with misleading audiences.
The background on the narrator’s father — a minister in the Hamas-run government in Gaza — was “critical information,” which was not shared with the BBC before broadcast, the review found.
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, started the ongoing war with Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when it led an invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
The BBC’s coverage of the war has been heavily scrutinized throughout the conflict, with supporters of Israel saying the broadcaster has maintained a bias against the Jewish state.
“Regardless of how the significance or otherwise of the narrator’s father’s position was judged, the audience should have been informed about this,” said the report by Peter Johnston, BBC Director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the report identified a significant failing in relation to accuracy.
“We will now take action on two fronts – fair, clear, and appropriate actions to ensure proper accountability and the immediate implementation of steps to prevent such errors being repeated,” Davie said in a statement.
HOYO Films had told the BBC that it paid the narrator’s family “a limited sum of money” for him narrating the film and deposited the money into his sister’s bank account.
