Ofcom finds BBC Gaza doc misled over narrator's Hamas ties

Britain's broadcasting regulator Ofcom has ruled that a BBC documentary about the Israel Gaza war materially misled audiences by failing to disclose that the 13 year old narrator is the son of a Hamas official, a finding announced Friday that will require the BBC to broadcast Ofcom's decision on BBC Two at 9 p.m. on a date to be confirmed. The film, Gaza How to Survive a Warzone, was removed from the BBC iPlayer in February after the narrator, identified as Abdullah, was revealed to be the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has served as Hamas deputy minister of agriculture.

Ofcom said its investigation concluded the documentary breached the regulator's rule that factual programmes must not materially mislead audiences. "The programme's failure to disclose that the narrator's father held a position in the Hamas run administration was materially misleading," Ofcom stated, adding that the omission meant viewers lacked information that may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the material he provided. The regulator emphasized that trust is central to the relationship between broadcasters and audiences, particularly for public service broadcasters, and that...